The Perfect Girl
by xBildenxSiexLachelnx
Summary: Ryuuka Simone. Shishido's definition: Cocky, Annoying, Always acting like a boy... The Perfect Girl. Can he fix the hate he has shown her the past 7 years and get to know her for her? ShishidoxOC Mild HiyoshixOC and Mild ChoutarouxOC
1. Hate is Contagious

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 1: Hate is Contagous

* * *

When I moved to Japan I was starting my second year of Elementary School. That's right, Second Grade... Of course, I was protesting this idea. Especially since my brother would no longer be able to walk, or drive, me to school each morning. He was going to go to Hyotei Gakuen's Middle School, while I was stuck in the Elementary section. I remember screaming at the house as my father tried to put the red bow in my hair.

"DAD! NO!" I screamed as I threw my fists around in anger, trying to get away from my father. Of course, he was a million times my size and able to keep me in the same place.

"Stop it, Simone- let me fix your bow. You'll get used to this school." He said, trying his bext to soothe me.

I looked at him with small, angry tears in my eyes,"No, I don't wanna go to this school! I wanna go back to Check-!"

He put a finger over my lips, something that my mother used to do, and spoke softly,"After school there'll be a plate of cookies here if you cooperate with me."

I stopped my fidgeting and he finished with my bow. He stood up and took my hand, walking me out the door,"Now, I want you to remember where we live. The neighbor's son said that he could show you where the school was."

I nodded and walked to where my father pointed. I stopped in front of a taller boy, most likely a fifth grader, and his little brother. The little brother looked about my age, he had big brown eyes and shaggy dark brown hair. He tugged on his brother's shirt and the older boy took notice of me.

"Oh, I guess that you're Ryuuka-san's daughter?"

I nodded,"I'm Simone."

He nodded,"My name's Shishido, Elrin. This is my brother Ryou, you guys are in the same grade."

I smiled a toothy smile to them and Elrin laughed, but his brother sneered at me. I stopped smiling and followed the two to the school.

It was nice looking, very proper and polished. I was getting a little worried. My old school in America was a good size and we had uniforms... But here it looked scary.

"Ryou, show Simone-chan where the class is." Elrin said to his brother. Ryou nodded,"Okay, Ani[1]."

I followed the shaggy haired boy to the class and stopped by the teacher. The teacher looked down to me and looked me over. I felt like I was going to get yelled for my bow being crooked or something.

"You must be the new student."

I nodded slowly, scared to speak since my Japanese was a little rough since I had only learned a lot of it in the past year.

The woman turned to the class and motioned to me again,"Class, this is Ryuuka, Simone. She is our new student from America- welcome her."

There was a chorus of different greetings. What could I expect, it was second grade after all. The teacher pointed me to my seat and that was that. My first day in second grade hadn't been so bad.

* * *

It had been two weeks since I moved to Japan with my family. My brother had been busy with a lot of school things lately and that was a sad thing. He used to be around all the time, my best friend- but here in Japan he needed to constantly work to stay ahead in his studies.

"Simone!"

I jumped out of my seat and ran to the front room to my dad's voice. I stopped, seeing him in a suit and a boy next to him. It was that Ryou kid from down the street. My father smiled to me and put his hand on Ryou's shoulder,"You two are going to have a playdate today."

I would have cringed at the word 'date' if I had truly understood the word. I really hadn't, and when I had heard it it was small bits from my brother. I nodded, obeying my father. He smiled,"Good. Your grandfather is in the back room, so don't act up. I need to head off to the college for a meeting."

I nodded again, looking Ryou over.

"And show him where the food that I made for you earlier is."

I nodded again as he left out the front door. I smiled to Ryou and motioned my hand,"My dad made some grilled cheese- it's in the kitchen."

I walked into the kitchen and hopped up onto the tall stool, scooting a plate with a grilled cheese on it to the stool next to me. A moment later Ryou was sitting in the chair. I watched as he took a bite of the sandwich and chewed it for a moment, like he was testing it for some kind of poison. I laughed when he than began to devour it hungrily and I went back to eating mine.

That had been what the 'date' consisted of. We ate a lot of grilled cheese and than watched some Anime on the TV. We didn't talk much, it was only when Ryou needed to go to the bathroom that we had. My grandfather only peeked in on us once, but hurried back into his room to take a nap.

When Ryou left my father said that he was very happy that I found a new friend, but oh no... He was very wrong.

* * *

I hummed as I skipped up next to Ryou. It had been three months and four playdates later and I was getting used to calling him a friend. I walked at him pace and waved to him lightly,"Hi, Shishi-kun."

He never protested the nickname. I would have called him by his first name, but according to my father that was rude to do here in Japan. So, I resorted to nicknames.

He glanced to me and nodded. I noticed that he never really said my name or anything when we were near eachother. It made me want to say things like 'Does the cat got your tongue?', but that was an American saying- he wouldn't get it.

As we were nearing his house, since it was the first one from the walk home from school, I smiled and looked to him. I was going to give talking to him a shot.  
"Shishi-kun."

He looked to me, his large brown eyes lookng into my caramel ones,"Hai?"

"We're friends, right? Because, I think we should be."

That was when I got to witness his rage, firsthand. He pushed out his arms and shoved me down. Usually I wouldn't cry from something like that, but he than spoke aloud.

"Friends with you? You are so annoying! So annoying, that I **hate **you!"

I stared wide-eyed at the boy as he yelled this to me. No one had ever said that they **hate**d me before. I was shocked, completely shocked and distraught.

"Ryou!"

I saw Ryou look to his right at his brother's yell. I knew that he was in trouble, but it didn't matter.

I sniffled and hurried up, turning and running to my house that was only two down. I opened the door to my home and quickly ran past my family.

"Simone?"

I didn't even come out of my room to be consoled by my brother. That day I realized that I probably was annoying, but it was also the day that I decided to not care. I wouldn't let Ryou's words cause me to stop being who I am. I'll be who I want to be and I'll do it even if it makes him angry.

* * *

**7 years later.**

I smiled and sat up in my bed, spotting the slowly getting lighter sky. I hurriedly jumped out of bed and tossed on a pair of jersey shorts and an old sports shirt of Jeram's. I shoved my way through all of my shoes and found a pair of old nike's. I tied them on and ran down the stairs, jumping the last two. I giggled at seeing my grandfather on the couch asleep, drool on his chin. I picked up a piece of bread and left out the front door for a run.

"BARK BARK!"

I slowed to a jog as I heard the barking of a dog. I had no idea which way it was coming from and I didn't want to accidently kick the dear. I stopped moving when a light haired dog, connected to a red leash, jumped onto my legs. I loked down at it and smiled, it was so cute.

I scratched behind it's ear and heard it's owner,"Kyon- stop it."

I looked up to see Shishido Ryou, the guy I was out to prove wrong for the rest of my life. He noticed me too and we stopped to stare at eachother. His hair was still long and pulled back into a ponytail, but he wasn't as cute as he was in seventh and eighth grade ever since his older face began to come in. The long hair didn't make him as attractive, but it still showed that it was him.

"What are you doing out here?"

I put my hands on my hips and smirked, getting ready to respond to his rude question,"Running, duh. You need to get your eyes checked."

I slowly sauntered past him before gaining the speed that I once had back.

* * *

I snorted and tossed all of my clothes into the large laundry basket next to my door. It was time for my two-weekly clothing wash. I laughed as my favorite new song came on- Bad Girlfriend by Theory of a Deadman.

I danced around my room, kicking the many shoes that had been thrown onto my empty floor into the box that they had previously been in. My grandfather was out shopping with my father since the front room's seating was now "outdated". I jumped onto my bed and yelled the lyrics, happy with myself and the wide open window. The Spring was coming- and that meant that school was starting soon.

Shishido Ryou left his house to take his dog Kyon for another walk. Of course, he didn't expect to hear the loudness that he did from the Ryuuka household. He looked to his right and past the gate and up the house's side to see the only girl in the house singing loudly in her room. His eyes narrowed and he felt a small nerve in his mind snap.

"Oi! Ryuuka!"

The strawberry blonde haired girl stopped and looked out her window,"Whadda Ya Want?"

"Turn it down up there! No one wants to listen to you!"

The girl pouted slightly in anger. The boy on the sidewalk with his dog smirked, victory in his grasp. Well, until the once American girl turned around and picked up a remote,"Oh, you're right! I'll just have to turn it up!"

With that she hit the volume button on her remote and left the window, yelling the lyrics to a new song. Shishido Ryou narrowed his eyes into a death glare and growled in the back of his mind. He than began to rant to himself about her as he continued down the sidewalk.

She was cocky and annoying and was always acting like a boy, and she ne- Shishido stopped in his mid thought and realized something. He started a new thought in realization:

Ryuuka, Simone was the perfect girl.

* * *

[1] Ani means Older Brother when you are talking about or to your own family.

Ne, ne. This was my first Shishido story that made it past chapter 3. In notepad that was one accomplishment for me. I really hope that you guys enjoy this "series". I may ask for ideas once it gets to a certaib point though because my brain only travels down one road for so long. The info on Simone will be in the next chapter :3

~Tai


	2. School Year Beginnings

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 2: School Year Beginnings

* * *

I stared down at the sheet of paper I had in my hand as I fixed my shoes. I had decided to take a specialized schedule this year instead of the normal generalist subjects that I had been taking for the past two years.

I was taking six main classes:

Homeroom with Kobayashi 3-C  
Japanese History with Sikomori  
World History with Jin  
World Geography and Cultures with Kamori  
English and Conversation with Penny  
Advanced Trigonometry with Kira  
Extra Activites/Free Period

It wasn't exactly the most diverse line up, but I would have rather taken History related classes all day than have to take a math.

I made sure that my tall shoes were fitted on and grabbed my backpack, running out the door. Sometimes I think that maybe I should take the bus one morning, but that involves me walking out of my way when I could just walk to school. I hummed a small tune and ran across the street, obviously jaywalking. School was still a while away.

* * *

"Ryuuka-chan?"

I looked up from my seat in homeroom to see a tall boy in front of me. His hair was much oranger than mine, making it obvious as to who he was.

"Oh, hello Akutagawa-san."

He sat down diagnolly behind me and placed his pack on his desk,"I told you to call me by my name- Akutagawa is a mouthful."

I snickered lightly as he fell asleep the moment he finished his sentence, he was interesting. I sighed lightly now that class was to start soon. The tone sounded, just as I had predicted, and Kobayashi-sensei began to take attendance.

"Aku-"

The door sid open and a boy with long dark brown hair stepped in, obviously late. He sat down in the empty seat in front of me, forcing me to put my legs on the ground. I glared lightly at the back of his head.

"Shishido- explain why you are late."

The boy in front of me bowed his head for a moment and than spoke,"You're class was difficult to find."

I grimaced as a few girls around me giggled at his response. It was sickening, liking a guy because he played tennis- eugh.

Kobayashi-sensei sighed angrily and went back to calling roll. I played with my necklace that had my old red bow on it and smiled about what had happened this morning when I walked into school.

I usually where my long sleeve blue shirt underneath my white collared whenever it's Spring... Just because[1]. Anyways, I almost got in trouble this morning, but Kobayashi-sensei saved me, giving the excuse that it was expression. I was like his favorite student apparently[2].

"Ryuuka, Simone."

I looked up,"Hai."

"Shishido, Ryou."

"Hai."

I smirked as I remembered that I would always be ahead of him in roll call. Take that hairboy.

The principle began to speak through the school intercoms, speaking about small things. Sign ups, try outs, teams, activities, and other things like that.

I stared up at the top of the bored, really for no reason now that I think about it. It was actually really interesting. I glanced down a little bit and met Shishido's eyes glancing back to me. His brown eyes quickly dissapeared and I had to blink my eyes a few times to fully process what had just happened.

The tone sounded again and Kobayashi-sensei left the room for a teacher swap. This room was now for Japanese History. Jirou walked past me quickly along with quite a few other people in the room. That's what happens when everyone has different schedules. I waited a minute and than fully noticed the empty seats all around the room.

"Oi, Shishido-san."

He looked back to me, giving me a small annoyed look,"What?"

"Move somewhere else, your butt's in the way of my feet."

He got up and moved to the seat to my right. I put my feet back into the seat he had just left and was shocked as I did. Not because he moved to the seat next to me, but because he hadn't protested against me. I glanced to my right, but saw nothing but his mess of hair. I huffed and put my right hand on my head, blocking the boy from my sight. This was going to be a long year.

* * *

A class later consisted of yelling at me by Sikomori-sensei because my feet were on the seat in front of me. Though, after she yelled at me for the fifth time she gave up and began to pick on some other kid. I breathed out in relief as the tone sounded,"Finally..."

I quickly stood up and swung my bag over my shoulder, making my way to World History with Jin-sensei.

* * *

Shishido looked up slightly as Simone left the room quickly, wanting to get out of the room as quick as possible. He slowly grabbed his bag and binder, making his way to the door and turning to the staircase to head down to the gym.

The boy changed into his gym clothing, feeling much better, and tied his hair back into it's ponytail. His hair was his pride and joy- many people had begun to refer to it as that. He walked out of the locker room and made his way over to Coach Takao. He listened to bits and pieces of the things that the Coach said to the students.

Most of the kids in the class were guys, of course. It wasn't that Shishido was sexist, but a lot of the girls in the school didn't seem like they would want to be in a Gym class.

The long-haired boy began to run laps around the class with many of the other students. He glared as the magenta-haired boy, Mukahi Gakuto, flipped over a stretch of the track. Shishido and him had become enemies soon after their first year of middle school when Mukahi dropped him like a hot potato[3]. A grunt emitted lightly from the back of his throat as he sped up to beat the flexible boy.

* * *

Shishido Ryou stepped out of the locker room with his bag over his shoulder, turning towards the stairs to make it to his next class. It was something that he would enjoy more than gym with the annoying bending boy. World Geography and Cultures. He gripped the power ball[4] in his hand tightly, excersing his fingers and wrist.

He stepped into the class and looked to find a seat, spotting the strawberry blonde girl who lived two houses down from him. He was glad that her head was down on her desk, her feet in the seat in front of her. He made sure to sit in a seat that wasn't directly next to her, so he sat diagnally behind her.

* * *

I yawned and sat back up, stretching my arms. After this class I was going to get to eat something, finally. I looked up to Kamori-sensei's stoic face and realized that this class might be really great or really, really bad.

"Hello class. I want you each to take out a sheet of paper and write down your name."

I sighed and slid out a sheet of paper from my bag, this was interesting. I wrote my name on it and looked up to sensei for the next instructions.

"Now, fold it and toss it into this hat."

A few minutes later I was sitting in the middle row of desks in the second seat from the front. The girl in front of me was my partner for our first assignment. By the end of the week the girl in front of me and I had to find out as much as we could on the daily culture and geography of the Canadian land. It sounded easy enough, I lived close to Canada for a bit of my life.

"My name's Kishigami, Hana."

I nodded and shook hands with the girl,"I'm Ryuuka, Simone."

Hana had short black hair with brown eyes. She had fair skin and was around my height. She didn't seem like she would be annoying, but you never know these days with these kinds of schools.

"So, what do you like to do Ryuuka-chan?"

Ooh, the -chan suffix already? Please don't be too friendly.

"I like to read my manga and english novels, listen to music, and run. What about you Kishi-chan?"

She accepted the nickname quickly and began to go into what she liked to do,"I like to draw, but it's usually just fish. Um, I watch tennis with my friends like a lot of people at the school, and, uh, I like chewing Strawberry Gum?"

I laughed at her last statement/question,"I like to do that, too."

This wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

[1] Now, I found out what the Hyotei Uniform was, plaid brown skirt, white collared shirt with a red tie, brown jacket over it. Ryuuka tends to wear different bottoms- she'll wear the skirt, but maybe have black stockings and knee shoes. My understanding from a lot of things I have seen is that only the first years wear the jackets, or everyone tends to not wear them everyday... Simone is one of those people.

[2] I did my research and his homeroom teacher Kobayashi is someone that he dislikes, so why can't the teacher just love Simone? XD.

[3] I don't exactly know for sure how Mukahi's and Shishido's close friendship ended, but I have my suspicions that Mukahi decided to be better friends with Oshitari.

[4] He really does carry this around in his bag. I like to do my research as I stated before. He uses it to really exercise those muscles, I didn't even know you could do that.

This is the second chapter. Simone is one of my favorite charaters to write with. She has this air about her in my opinion. Well this is the info on her, it may seem like a lot- but it's all kind of tied into everything else in the end... I guess.

Ryuuka, Simone  
14  
August 4th [Leo]  
161cm[5'3"]  
52kg[116lb]  
Strawberry Blonde Hair  
Light Caramel Eyes  
Peach Skin  
AB  
Ambidextrous  
Personality: Happy, Over Exaggerating, Secretly Sad at Times  
Favorite Subjects: English Conversation, History  
Worst Subjects: Trignometry  
Favorite Movie: The Star Wars with Anikin :DDD  
Favorite Music: Western Music and Japanese Pop/Rock  
Favorite Book: Manga, English Novels  
Favorite Color: Blue, Purple  
Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese, Strawberry Gum  
Favorite Date Spot: Has yet to choose.  
Favorite Shoes: Non-Fancy American Converse  
Dislikes: Speaking in Front of People  
Most Desired: A new stereo  
Special Skills: Drawing, Running, Poker  
Hobby: Tablet Drawing  
Accessory: Hair Clip necklace, Small decorated backpack  
Spends Allowance on: CDs, Posters, and Savings for Shoes  
Motto: "Following the crowd leads to failure."  
Daily Routine: Getting up very early, Going to the Book Cafe  
Family: Grandfather, Father, Older Brother, cat, fish  
-Grandfather: Ryuuka, Kino, 72  
-Father: Ryuuka, Kyou, 39  
-Older Brother: Ryuuka, Jeram, 20  
-Cat: Salmon, 7  
-Fish: Cori, 1  
Father's Occupation: College Dean  
Taste in Guys: Guys who can learn to appreciate who she is  
Things in Bag: Strawberry Gum, Stress Ball, Photos of her family, Cards, a Book, School Items


	3. The Ending Half

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 3: The Ending Half

* * *

"Now, before lunch starts I want you all to turn your desks around and meet your new English Conversation partner."

I grumbled as I turned my desk around since I had to since the person behind me was in the last row. English and Conversation had snuck up on me when World Geography and Cultures ended. I finally moved my desk all the way and sat back down, looking up to see Shishido Ryou.

My head met the desk, quite loudly might I add.

"Oh, dear. Are you okay?" I heard the American teacher ask me. I gave her a thumbs up, something all Americans know about and she laughed,"Good."

I sat back up and crossed my arms, sitting in the silence between Ryou and I. While all of the other partners were exchanging names and talking, I was counting the seconds until the tone for lunch would sound and I would be freed from this.

"Listen," my caramel eyes shot to the long haired boy across from me,"this isn't exactly my best subject, so if I mess up in things can you help?"

I stared at him increduously, this was the same boy that pushed me down in Second Grade and has hated me since? I twisted my mouth as the tone sounded,"Uh, sure. I guess I can do that."

I quickly stood up and left the room even though my bento was in my bag. I could eat on the stairs today.

* * *

I chewed on the corner of the book I was borrowing in Free Period. I was sitting in a section of the library, freaking about the kilograms of Trigonometry definitions I had. Stupid Oshitari Yuushi kept talking to me and getting me in trouble all class, but he got ut of me cussing at him when I asked to borrow the romantic novel he had with him,'Wence we Came'[1].  
Of course, chewing on the corner of it wasn't exactly considered reading.

"Ryuuka-chan."

I looked up and stopped in mid-chew to see Jirou standing there with a Magenta-haired boy next to him. I think that he was Shishido's friend for a while there.

"Hello Gawa-san."

The orange-haired boy smiled and sat next to me, while the Magenta haired one sat on my other side.

"Mukahi, Gakuto."

I looked to the Dark Blue-eyed boy,"Ryuuka, Simone."

He scrunched his face in though,"I've heard your name somewhere..."

Though, after a few minutes of thinking, he gave up and began to show me odd things he could do with his body. Since Jirou was asleep I had no choice but to watch.

My face scrunched up into an odd position as he twisted his body,"How are you doing that? I'm in pain just watching you."

He laughed and fixed himself,"Years of practice."

I flicked his forehead,"You're cocky, aren't ch'ya Rubber Band?"

"Rubber Band?"

I pushed my hair back,"Yea, I couldn't think of anything else elastic-like... Unless you wanna be called Elasti-Boy."

He shook his head and I laughed.

Ding Ding Ding.

I jumped out of my chair,"Yes! First day is over!"

I took off my tie and lifted off my school shirt quickly. I fished the shorts out of my bag and slid them on. I buttoned them and zipped my skirt off. I shook Jirou and bit and than waved goodbye to the two,"Bye Gawa-san! Rubber Band!"

* * *

**1 1/2 weeks later**

"I have a girl that seems to strip at the end of class, everyday." Mukahi said, smirking as he put his racket over his shoulders. The tournaments for who would be a Hyotei Regular had finished and he had come out as one.

"Really? Who is it?" The tired Jirou asked the Magenta-haired boy next to him.

"It's Ryuuka-chan, duh."

Shishido looked over to the two with interest. Stripping?

"Ryuuka, Simone?" Oshitari, Yuushi asked his magenta-haired friend.

"Hai. Everyday when the last tone sounds she changes clothes and leaves the room."

The blue haired boy laughed to himself and fixed his glasses,"Interesting."

Shishido looked away from the two and wiped his forehead with his towel to get rid of the sweat. He hadn't spoken very many words other than those that had to be said to the Ryuuka girl. He was now figuring that this was some sort of infatuation that would go away soon enough if he left it alone.

He put his things back into his bag and began to make his leave since he no longer needed to stay.

* * *

"Salmon!"

Shishido looked up as a cat jumped down the concrete fencing areas, bound for a destination. He looked foreward again to see the girl he had just been thinking about. Her hair was tucked into a messy low bun and she had a beanie on over it, even in this hot weather. She was a long sleeve blue shirt and cargo shorts, her feet fitted with red shoes. She stopped in front of him, panting with her hands on her knees.

"Shishido-san, did you see Salmon run by here?"

The boy nodded stiffly, waiting for her to leave him alone.

"Can you help me find her? The last time she got out she ended up downtown." Simone looked up at him with her caramel eyes, something that he didn't want to be looking at right now.

She narrowed her eyes slightly and stood up,"I helped you ace that English Conversation test that you would have flunked if it wasn't for me. You owe me!"

Before the ponytail-boy could answer a light rub was made on his leg. He looked down to see a fluffy orange and gray spotted cat rubbing against his leg,"Mew."

"Aha! Gotcha Salmon!"

The cat yelped as Simone swiped her up, looking her in the face. She than turned and walked back down to her house, not saying another word to the boy on the sidewalk.

There, he had helped.

* * *

[1] Oshitari really likes Romance Novels apparently. Woo?

I enjoyed this chapter. It kind of shows the beginning of Simone's relationship with the people around her.

~Tai.


	4. Detention Blues

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 4: Detention Blues

* * *

I snorted as I walked to the computer lab with Oshitari next to me. Kira-sensei had decided that since I liked to talk to him so much that he would help me bring up my test grades. It made me wish that I had been able to choose a Science class. I put my hand onto my bag strap and held his novel in my other hand, with one of the corners revealing the abuse I had shown it.

"Now, now, Simone-chan let's not be so hostile."

I ignored his husky voice, not exactly seeing what was so sexy about it[1]. I glanced out of the window to my right and stopped, chuckling to myself. I was currently watching Mukahi walk on his hands on the grass. He could be quite an oddball.

I didn't notice Oshitari stand quite close to me as he looked out to see it, too. Just in time another boy yelled at him to stop being an idiot. A shouting match soon started between the two and I noticed that the second boy was Shishido. I watched as Shishido grabbed his collar and was about to punch Mukahi's face.

"Hey, you shouldn't do that!" I shouted, gripping the sill of the window I was yelling out of.

The two immeaditely stopped and looked up to see me.

"What are you doing yelling out the window?"

I hurriedly jumped back into the hallway to see that Oshitari had abandoned me. He had probably noticed our principle walking up. I immeaditely bowed and spoke quickly,"Sakuji-senpai[2]!"

* * *

I had managed to land myself sitting in the detention room for the rest of my school hours. I grumbled there, ignoring any of the other students there. I watched the lock intensly, wanting the tone to sound.

Ding Ding Ding.

I stood up quickly and grabbed my bag, not feeling up to changing.

"Um, Ryuuka-san?"

I looked back to the boy that had sat behind me. His black hair was messily styled up and his eyes were a wild hazel.

"What?" I asked him rudely, I was still angry about this.

"There is something on the back of your skirt."

I spun around for a moment, trying to see it. I finally gave up after three spins and took it off my butt.

_'I figured that you would get in trouble. Come to the tennis courts after school for the Trigonometry assignment._  
_~Oshitari'_

I crumpled the note growling, right before I realized what the boy behind me was looking at. I turned back to him with a blush on my face,"Were you looking at my butt?"

His eyes widened as I slapped the side of his head before stomping out of the room and to the tennis courts.

* * *

"Ahh, I wonder what happened to Ryuuka-chan. She didn't show up for Free Period." Mukahi said as he stretched. He had been speaking to Jirou, but the sleepy boy was currently laying on the bench, asleep.

"Nerd-san!"

Mukahi's head shot up at the familiar voice. He jumped up happily,"Ryuuka-chan!"

Shishido looked at the angry girl walking towards the courts. What was she doing here? He had remembered seeing her yelling to him and the annoying boy out the window, but she had dissapeared quickly after. His brown eyes watched as she stopped in front of Oshitari, their tensai.

Oshitari moved his blue hair off of his glasses as he looked down to the angry girl from his Trigonometry class.

* * *

"You left me to get detention from Sakuji-sensei!" I yelled, poking him roughly in the chest. I was ignoring the magenta-haired boy that was trying to wave to me.

Oshitari smirked and pushed his glasses up his nose, leaning down by my ear and whispering,"Do you need something Simone-chan?"

My eye twitched and I pushed him back, wiping off my ear,"Eugh! You're breath is all hot. Anyways, yea- I need the homework for Trigonometry."

The boy in front of me smirked again and pointed to his things,"The things for you are in the front cover."

I walked over and decided to not mention anything about the note I had found on my butt. His hand was never going there again. I picked up the work and groaned loudly, stomping my foot,"UGH! I hate Kira-sensei! I swear to kami-sama, these definitions are gonna friggin' kill me!"

"What?"

I stopped and looked back, thinking that I was going to see Kira-sensei there, but instead it was Sakuji-sensei. I laughed nervously and hurried out of the tennis courts since he was angry for me being somewhere I shoudldn't be.

"Aww, Ryuuka-chan didn't say hi to me." Mukahi pouted as Oshitari put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wha-? Ryuuka-chan was here?" Jirou said tiredly as he sat up from the bench.

"Ore-sama is guessing that you are done stretching. Twenty-five laps, now!"

The regulars, along with the many other members, got ready to run the laps that they were assigned by their buchou, Atobe Keigo.

Shishido narrowed his eyes as he sped up, angry that he had to take orders from such a snot-nosed guy. Of course, he was a regular so he shouldn't be doubting the capabilities of his buchou, no matter how easy it was to do.

* * *

[1] I've read a lot of stories and such about Oshitari. A lot of them mention 1] His leg fetish and 2] His "sexy" voice. Simone's not totally into that.

[2] The prinicpal of Hyotei Gakuen is Sakuji. I don't know if they would refer to him as -sama or -sensei or something else, so I picked with a large guess.

This is one of thise filler chapters again, kind of. This is kind of a 'Shishido sees the Light arc'. So far the interactions between Shishido and Simone are either hostile, silent, or not face-to-face. :D

Criticism is welcomed!

~Tai


	5. The First Reach

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 5: The First Reach

* * *

I yawned and put my head in my arms, sitting in the almost empty homeroom class. I had arrived at school earlier than I had expected to. I was probably worried about presenting the thing about Canada with Kishi-chan in third period. It was a fear of mine, speaking in front of a lot of people... Though it is quite the irony since I do speak out a lot in class. An example would have to be when I stood on the desk in Jin-sensei's class and proclaimed that we should have a world war scenario with water guns out in the courtyard. The idea was shot down by only a few of my classmates, but Jin-sensei said that it wouldn't be allowed.

I chuckled to myself at the memory of it. Though, I was still tired from the sleep I hadn't gotten.

"Ryuuka-san."

I moved my vision to the boy in front of me,"What Shishido-san?"

I wasn't in the mood to hear one of his snarky comments or annoying boasts. Not today.

"The tone sounded and Kobayashi is calling roll."

I nodded and sat up, stretched my arms, accidently hitting Shishido in the back of the head. He made a fist and instead of hitting me back, he hit the desk.

"Shishido! Is there something that you need to take outside?" Kobayashi-sensei asked the poor, **hate**d boy. Ryou shook his head slowly, like it was a rusty bolt. I guess that didn't make much sense, but it is- kind of. Sensei sighed and continued down the list.

* * *

"Well, one of the main geography points of the Nor..." I continued on from what I could remember from the geography of the Canadian Territories. I had reluctantly let Kishi-chan do all of the Cultural work since she was horrible with geography. Well, that's what she said anyway.

I took a big breath as I finished my small monologue on the geography. I had explained all of the things that I knew, and hopefully Kamori-sensei would be glad with it. I looked up to see her reaction and she nodded, the same stoic expression that had been there all class still plastered on her face.

Kishi-chan put the poster of ours with the rest of the ones that had presented. There was only one other group left to present in the class. I sighed and sat down in my seat, slumping down. Kishi-chan smiled to me, obviously showing that she was happy that we did good and looked back to the front of the class. I ignored the next presentation and decided that my thumbnail was much more interesting then them.

Ding Ding Ding.

"See ya, Ryuu-chan." The girl, who I considered a friend, said to me as she left the room to go to her next class.

"Bye, Kishi-chan." I responded, very exhausted if I must say. I stood up and moved my things to the second to the last row desk, turning my desk as Penny-sensei had made it very clear that she wanted partners to be facing eachother when the next tone sounded.

I put my chin into my palm, opening up the book that I was borrowing from Oshitari, and finishing up the last few pages. I couldn't wait to finish the novel and than take out my bento to eat my octopus-shaped food. My grandfather had been making me my bento's for the past few days and it was cute to find all of my foods in different shapes.

Penny-sensei came in and didn't say anything since everything was in order for her. She picked up the things from under her desk and began to write on the board the day's agenda. Fun.

"Ryuuka-san."

I looked up with a slight look of annoyance since I was almost to the last page. I wanted to know what would happen to the beautiful Rochelle and her lover Leon.

"Yes?"

The long-haired boy in front of me looked away from my eyes and proposed something that I wouldn't have expected,"Do you wanna come eat lunch with me?"

I raised my eyebrow at him. I would have taken this moment to repeat what he did to me in the Fourth grade[1] and reject the proposition very rudely, but I was too confused as to why he was asking.

"It won't just be me." He said as the tone sounded and everyone began to stand for lunch.

I sighed and closed my eyes, sticking my bookmark back into the romance novel, and picking up my bento.

"Fine."

* * *

"Ah, senpai!"

I watched as a very tall boy with silver hair and brown eyes bowed to Shishido. I think I had seen him once before- maybe when I had stormed up to Oshitari on the Tennis Courts last week.

"This is my kouhai, Ootori Choutarou."

I nodded to Shishido and bowed to the tall boy. He seemed like a very nice boy.

"I'm Ryuuka Simone, Ootori-san."

He bowed again,"It's nice to meet you, Ryuuka-senpai."

I laughed and sat down at the table we were next to in the eating area. The chair was nice and comfy, as everything was supposed to be in Hyotei. The table had a nice off-white color to it and there was a vase with flowers in the middle.

"You're a very polite kouhai."

Shishido sat next to me, of course there was plenty of space between us, and Choutarou sat across from us.

"Arigatou, Ryuuka-senpai."

I opened my bento and broke my chopsticks,"Don't use senpai- we're familiar with eachother now."

I picked up an octopus shaped food placed it into my mouth.

"Okay, Ryuuka-san."

I continued eating in silence with the two boys. It was a little awkward, but it wasn't a horrible silence. I moved some of my food around and looked up,"So, how do you two know eachother?"

The answer was pretty obvious, though I wasn't completely sure that my guess was right. Shishido was the one to respond to me.

"Tennis. We're both regulars."

I nodded,"Oh right. I think I remember seeing you there, Ootori-san."

"Ryuu-chan? I didn't know you had this lunch!" A familiar voice shouted to me as the person walked closer.

"Hai, I do, Kishi-chan."

The black haired girl nodded to me, but stopped and her fair skin turned into a color resembling a tomato. I followed her brown eyes to see that they were resting on Choutarou. I watched her regain her composure and shake her head, suddenly self conscious.

"Uh, I-I'll see you t-tommorrow, Ryuu-chan."

Before I could respond she ran off in the other direction- away from our table. I shrugged and took the last piece of food out of my bento, the tone sounding. I swallowed it and stod up,"We should get back to class, Shishido-san. It was nice meeting you Ootori-san."

The silver-haired boy nodded to me,"It was nice to meet you too, Ryuuka-san. See you at practice, Shishido-senpai."

* * *

Shishido looked at the strawberry blonde girl in front of him as she looked down at her paper, deeply concentrating on the next sentence. For a girl that was great at English this was stumping her. Though, he wasn't exactly one to talk.

"What number is it?"

Ryuuka jumped, startled by his voice and looked up to his brown eyes. She pointed down to the fourth one, the only one blank. She pointed to a Japanese character,"I don't get what that one means. All this time in Japan and I still don't know some of this."

Shishido snorted at her, causing her to scoff at him, and he drew a small drawing on the corner of his paper. There was a big circle and than a bunch of dots on it. He put the pencil down,"That's what it means."

Ryuuka squinted her eyes, painfully trying to understand what it was,"Is it a cookie?"

Shishido scoffed at her, obviously insulted by her comment.

"Um, a blob that's got the chicken pocks?"

He shook his head, annoyed by her density.

"A rock with holes in it? Like a meteor?"

The boy glared at her,"No, it's not that! It's a spotted egg!"

The girl glared at him in turn,"You don't have to yell!"

"Well, maybe I do if you don't get it!"

The two glared at eachother intensly before Ryuuka decided to ignore the boy and finish the blank line on her paper.

* * *

[1] In the fourth grade Simone had tried to ask Shishido the same thing to see if he was over hating her, but he ended up rejecting the propostition and humiliating her.

I just now realized that I'm making fun of Shishido's horrible drawing skills, but than again Simone isn't the brightest. I love how Kishi-chan is embarrassed by Choutarou's presence X3.

~Tai

[P.S. I have been forgetting to put this in but I do NOT own the Prince of Tennis. The only characters I own are some of the senseis that are made up, the Ryuuka family, and Kishi-chan.]


	6. A Stalemate

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 6: A Stalemate

* * *

It was the final day of the month of April. That meant that I had survived a little over a month in school. Only about nine more to go.

"Hah! I win again Jirou!" Mukahi shouted to the now sulking orange-haired third year. He had lost in rock, paper, scissors. He had lost in thumb wrestling. There was nothing to keep his pride in check.

"Shh!" The librarian loudly seethed out as the magenta-haired boy sat back down in his seat, now bored since his friend had gone to sleep.

"Psst... Oi... Ryuuka-chan..."

I glanced over to Mukahi,"What is it, Rubber Band?"

"Let's go do something outside, it's so cramped in here."

I sighed and put my things away, not wanting to argue with the elastic boy. We both stood up and left the library without any trouble since it was our Free Period. We walked out the back double doors and began to walk down the path- destination: Unknown.

"Aren't the Sakura Blossoms so beautfiul, Ryuuka-chan?" Mukahi asked me.

I watched as he jumped into one of the trees, shaking a branch that would send many of the blossoms onto me. I blew one out of my face as the boy laughed to me. I glared to him, not amused in the least. He stopped, but soon smiled again- getting an idea. He grabbed my wrist and ran to the empty gym,"Let's play something!"

I stared at him increduously, I don't play sports. I mean, I liked to fool around- but sports were not my thing.

He tossed a few things out of the gym closet, forcing me to step back so that I wouldn't get hit. He finally stopped near what I was guessing was the back of the closet nand stepped out, throwing a large ball at me. I yelped as the exercise ball knocked me down to the ground. I groaned and held my head, seeing my vision double and slowly come back into focus, Mukahi kneeling above me.

I stood up and snatched my shorts out of my bag, shoving them on and taking off my skirt. I fixed my bag across my shoulder and picked up a dodgeball,"Mukahi-san... I would get running."

* * *

I laughed and shot another ball at the boy, causing him to get hit in the shoulder. He had gotten tired quickly since we began our run. I held the last dodgeball in my hand firmly. The tone had sounded a while ago and I knew that Mukahi was trying to get to the locker room before he got in trouble. As he slowed to grab ahold of the door handle I shot the ball with as much force as I could muster.

The red dodgeball smacked him right in the head and he stumbled,"Itai!"

I laughed, gripping my stomach as the elasti-boy gripped his head in agony. This was amazing, I hadn't had this much fun doing anything even slightly sports-involved since my brother had last visited.

"Mukahi! Why are you not on the courts?"

Mukahi looked back in worry,"Atobe-buchou! Gomen! I was late leaving my last period."

The boy he was speaking to nodded, his dark purplish gray hair bobbing slightly,"Hurry and get changed, Ore-sama has had yet to start anything."

The boy nodded and waved goodbye to me,"Bye, Ryuuka-chan!"

"Ryuuka?"

I looked up to the boy that had come up before, the buchou. He wore the Hyotei boy's tennis club uniform, looking defined. He had a mole under his right dark colored eye which held a look of determination.

"Hai, my name is Ryuuka, Simone. Third Year here at Hyotei."

He smirked and flicked his hair,"Atobe Keigo."

I rose an eyebrow to him, hearing a slight accent in his Japanese. I figured to give English a shot and spoke out quickly.

"What country are you from?"

His eyes widened only by a millimeter as he responded, also in English,"England, of course. You?"

I nodded,"America, naturally. Well, I need to get going. Have fun with tennis, or whatever."

I quickly escaped having to speak to him any longer. I had heard of Atobe before, from many of the girls here at the school. Of course, it's hard not to know of the guy who proclaimed himself the king of Hyotei his first year... And he did buy a lot of thethings for the school[1]. I remembered running into him our first year here, too. He was great at tennis- wow'ing many of the people at the school. Of course, that was before people practically bowed down to kiss his feet.

* * *

**Sunday, May 6th.**

Knock Knock Knock.

I yawned and rolled off of the couch. My black shorts sagged a bit and my blue t-shirt fell over the area of my butt that would have been showing. I turned the doorknob and looked up to see a boy sightly taller than me.

I stepped to my right and let him in. He came in and took off his shoes, walking into the front room and putting down some books onto the table. I closed the door and locked it. My father was at the college, working things out with some of the department heads while my grandfather had gone out to get groceries. I walked back into the front room and sat next to the boy.  
He wore a pair of black pants and a simple red t-shirt. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail, like normal.

"So, what did you get on our country Shishido-san?" I asked him, wondering what books he had brought along.

As he began to show me the books on France I thought back to when Kamori-sensei had paired us together. I hadn't been as irked as I would have expected, hopefully this would turn out well.

"What about you Ryuuka-san?"

I nodded and showed him some of the books I had on their culture- food and entertainment being the main ones.

"So, you'll take care of the geography portion?"

He nodded and I let out a breath of relief, I was much better off with culture. We both began to look through the books, writing down what we would need for the poster since this project would be due on Wednesday. This would be the first time I saw my partner and was able to work on the project with him.

In class we were doing other things with Kamori-sensei, only given a few minutes towards the end of class to do anything. I erased a kanji I had put and corrected it. Also, Shishido had been at Tennis Practice till late hours. I hadn't really wanted to bother him with the work since he was already loaded, so we had decided to get it all done today.

I put my pencil down and looked over my two sheets, cracking my knuckles. That should be good. I looked at the boy next to me and stood up,"Do you want anything?"

He grunted, not really giving me a straight answer. I decided that it was a yes and walked into the kitchen. I fished out the cheese from the fridge and some bread slices, heating a skillet on the stove.

* * *

"Thank you, Ryuuka-san." Shishido said to me as he put his papers away and bit into one of the grilled cheese he had.

I nodded my head, thinking back to the last time we had eaten grilled cheese together. That hadn't been much. Besides, only a few days later he was yelling out his **hate **for me. I bit into my sandwich angrily and closed my eyes in annoyance, facing away from the boy next to me. This was stupid.

* * *

Shishido looked over to Ryuuka, noticing that she was facing away from him. He figured that she was probably thinking about what he had said that one day in Second Grade. He had been scolded a bunch by his brother and parents that day. Of course, that hadn't stopped him from continuing to** hate **the poor American girl.

He wiped his hand of the grease from the sandwich and looked at the sheets he had filled out. It wasn't too difficult to write down the geography of France, it was actually very simple. He swallowed the leftovers of the grilled cheese in his mouth and looked to Ryuuka.

"We should get this down on posterboard so we'll be done."

She turned back to him and gave him a fleeting glance, only nodding and getting up from the couch to get the posterboard. Shishido thought for a moment as he looked around the room, remembering the few times he had been here. They hadn't been bad times, just watching anime and eating the greasy foods her dad had usually made. It made him wonder how Ryuuka had been able to keep a good body from all of the junk she ate.

Shishido shook his head as he could feel it slightly heat up, this was ridiculous!

* * *

"Na, I got the po- Are you okay?" I looked at the boy on my couch, shaking his head violently.

Shishido quickly stopped and looked up to me,"I'm fine."

"Okay than..."

I sat back on the couch and moved my things away so that there was room for the board,"Let's get started."

I watched as Shishido wrote down some of the geography facts. He looked funny trying to concentrate on what he ws doing. I bit my lip so that I wouldn't laugh. I noticed a bandage on his arm and decided to ask since I hadn't seen it before.

"What happened to your arm?"

He looked over to me, putting the marker down, and than to his arm,"Oh, I got it from practice."

My eyebrow rose,"How? A tennis ball skinned you or something?"

He nodded, as serious as can be. Than he picked the marker back up and finished his part of the poster.

* * *

"So, what are you guys training for exactly?" I asked the boy next to me since it was quiet and I was writing on my side of the poster.

"For the next part of the tournament next Sunday[1]. There's one today against Tatsumotodai Higashi, but I wasn't placed in any of the spots."

I nodded,"Have you already played in a game?"

"Yea, I did against Echiminamikawa last week."

I pushed the cap back onto the purple marker and looked up at him,"Well that's a mouthful."

He smirked at me, something I had never exactly seen directed towards me before. I stared at him for a moment,"Um... Who are you playing next?"

"Fudomine. I need to train extra hard so that I don't lose." He said, his tone changing slightly, though I couldn't understand what it changed to.

"Why?"

"If I lose than I lose my spot as a Regular."

"Oh." I said, quick and simple. That didn't sound too good. I guess the coach was intent on not keeping losers in the good section of players. I kind of hoped that he wouldn't get kicked off.

"Well, good lu-Ah!"

Salmon had decided that it was the best moment to jump onto the back of my neck and launch herself across the couch. I fell forward into Shishido's chest, which caused him to fall back onto the rest of the couch since he was caught off guard. I looked up to him just in time to see my grandfather walk into the house.

He spotted us right away and got this look on his face, hurrying into the kitchen. My face heated up and I sat up quickly,"Sofu[2]! Get back here, I'll explain!"

"Ohoho, you don't need to Simone."

I stopped in the kitchen doorway and put my head on the wall, sighing.

"I should get going since we're done."

I looked over to Shishido and nodded,"Right."

I walked over to the door and opened it for him as he fitted his shoes back on,"See you at school tomorrow."

He nodded to me and left out the door. I quickly shut it behind him and ran into the kitchen to try and explain myself.

* * *

[1] This is for the Tokyo Prefectuals. The names of the schools are true, but the setup for the matches isn't. The first five matches of the Tokyo Prefectual were held on the same day, but that wasn't helping my story much. This will be the only tournament that has this odd setup, each of the other ones will follow the order and dates that they were supposed to be set up on. I guess that Hyotei vs Fudomine would be around the middle of May and than the rest will come later because there are actually a lot of people that don't know about that part of Shishido's past. Kantou and International will be in the same order they should be in.

[2] Sofu is grandfather when you are talking to or about your own family.

I enjoyed reading this chapter over. This reveals what should really be titled The Second Reach, but I don't look at it that way since they wore forced to be partners. XD.

~Tai.


	7. The Second Reach

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 7: The Second Reach

* * *

I walked into World Geography and Cultures on Monday to notice that Shishido wasn't there. I hoped that he wasn't going to be sick until Wednesday if he was sick or anything. I sat down and put a hand under my chin, still worried.

"Ryuuka-san."

I looked to my left to see a boy with straight brown hair. I had seen him in this class before- I think he was Kishi-chan's partner.

"Um, yes?"

"I'm Taki Haginosuke and it looks as though my partner is not here today either."

I nodded to him, sighing inwardly at the fact that today Kamori-sensei had decided to be absent and we were assigned the class to work on out projects. This sucked.

"Are you interested in cultures, Ryuuka-san?"

"What do you mean, Taki-san?"

By the end of the class I had agreed to becoming a member of the Cultural Committee[1]. It sounded like it was just up my alley. Taki nodded to me as he was getting ready to leave since the tone sounded. My first meeting would be on Sunday.

* * *

"Are you gonna come and support us?" Jirou asked me happily as he and I kicked a ball back and forth. The three of us- him, Mukahi, and I- had made it a daily thing to now spend Free Period doing something outside.

I shook my head,"Iie, not this week Gawa-san. I have a meeting with the Cultural Comittee on Sunday."

"How did you know it was on Sunday?" The Orange- haired boy asked, ignoring the cartwheeling Mukahi.

"Shishido-san told me yesterday."

Mukahi jumped in front of me,"What? Are you guys together or something?"

My eyes widened into saucers and I shook my head,"Iie! Iie! We had a project to finish and I decided to ask about Tennis!"

The magenta-haired boy backed off, jumping around again,"Good, cause Shishido's a complete baka. I swear that he lost his brain or something."

I laughed at Mukahi's comment, but something in my brain nagged to me that I was worried as to where Shishido was.

* * *

I hummed as I walked Jirou and Mukahi to the boy's locker room. It was on the way from where we would spend our last period, so it was sensible to walk this way. As they entered the locker room, waving goodbye of course, I was intent on getting as far away from the room as possible. I didn't want to be stopped b-

"Ryuuka-san."

I stopped and looked back, sighing,"Hai, Atobe-san?"

"Ore-sama has a question to ask you."

I looked up at him with scrunched eyebrows,"Okay?"

"Do you watch the Rugby games?"

I put a hand to my chin, thinking back. I do remember watching them with my grandfather last year. I was trying to be nice and hang out with him, but he had fallen asleep.

"I did last year."

"Ah," he flipped his hair and spoke in English,"Would you like to make a bet?"

"Keep talking."

He put up 3 fingers,"3,000 Yen says that the Saxons will lose to the Elite in their upcoming match[2]."

I looked at his fingers, thinking. I had heard about the squads from my grandfather and I was willing to take this bet,"Make it 6,000."

He put his hand out for me to shake, and I shook it- roughly,"Have fun losing."

"Ore-sama does not intend to be losing."

I turned around and shook my hand at him,"Yea, yea."

* * *

I knocked on the door to the Shishido Residence. I heard a few voices and some heavy footsteps before the door opened.

"Simone-chan?"

I looked up to see Elrin. His hair was cut short and was a very light brown, unlike Shishido's. His eyes were a dark hazel- but filled with a lot of happy.

"Ah, Elrin-san, is Shishido-san here?"

He looked shocked that I was asking for his brother. He nodded.

"Is he alright? He wasn't at school today."

Before Elrin could speak out of his hot high school senior mouth, a certain third year middle schooler got to it first.

"I'm fine."

Elrin moved over to let Shishido walk to the door. Kyon jumped up onto my legs and I laughed, scratching the cute dog behind the ears.

"Kyon, stop. I'll be back in a few Ani."

"Got it. Bye Simone-chan."

I waved goodbye to Elrin and looked to Shishido, and right into his brown eyes. We stared at eachother for a moment before Kyon whimpered, the atttention away from him. We both looked down to the dog, remembering him.

"So, were you sick today?" I asked the long-haired boy next to me, I didn't think about daring to call him a friend ever since the incident in Second Grade; I wasn't exactly over it yet.

"A little I guess. Why?"

I shrugged, easily coming up with something that wasn't me telling him that I had worried about him,"Kamori-sensei decided to not be at school today either and we were able to work on our project all day. Of course, we already finished it."

Shishido sighed angrily,"Ugh. Stupid sensei."

I snickered and opened up the gate to my household,"Are you gonna be at school tomorrow?"

"Eh, probably."

I decided it was good enough.

* * *

[1] Taki is apart of the Cultural Committee, so I decided that that would be really good for Simone to join.

[2] I don't exactly watch Rugby, but I know that these are actual Sqauds. I was going to make it a bet with someone breaking an arm, but I decided no. I still don't know if these two would ever face eachother, but finding information on them was difficult DX.

I hope that you liked this chapter. Thanks to anyone who has favorites or alerted this story. I will be making sure to update when I can because I need to finish this Summer Assignment that I have.

~Tai.


	8. New Friends, Changing Time it's DumbLuck

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 8: New Friends, Changing Times it's Dumb Luck

* * *

_"And this parade is something that many of the French enjoy- it is Mardi Gras. Many of them dress in..." I said, happily as I pointed to a small picture of what I was talking about. I was much more confident with talking about the cultural aspects._

_I looked up to Kamori-sensei as I finished up my piece. I saw Shishido nod to me out of the corner of my eye, he was saying I did good. Good._

_Sensei nodded in approval and I let out the breath I had been holding._

"Ryuuka-san, are you okay?"

I snapped out of my thinking and looked to the kind kouhai,"Hai, just thinking about how I kicked ass today in that presentation Shishido-san and I did."

Shishido snorted and I glared to him,"What was that?"

"You didn't do that great."

I felt my face got red with anger as the two of us began to argue over the trivial matter.

"Ah, Shishido-senpai, I forgot that I have to meet with Yamazuki-sensei. I'll see you at practice. Bye Ryuuka-san." The gray-haired boy stood up and bowed to us, hurrying away.

I turned from the boy I was arguing with and waved goodbye,"Bye, Ootori-san!"

"Good, he left."

I looked to my right to see Kishi-chan sitting down next to me. I rose an eyebrow,"You mean Ootori-san?"

I saw a light blush cover her cheeks and I snickered,"You like him."

As she began to protest I bit into my cat-shaped sushi. I nodded sarcastically, just because I can.

"Right, of course. Shishido-san, doesn't Kishi-chan look like she likes Ootori-san?"

"Che." He said and bit into his onigiri, closing his eyes and ignoring me.

I looked to Kishi-chan,"See? Even he sees that you do."

* * *

Shishido and the other six regulars walked into Atobe's lounging room to get the lineup from him for the practice matches. They all stopped when they saw a girl sitting next to him on his personal use couch. It was shocking and confusing- really because their buchou had made it very clear that that was to be his couch, and only his body should ever touch it.

The long-haired regular noticed that the girl next to him had long strawberry blonde hair, a lot like Ryuuka. He figured that it couldn't be her though- why would she be hanging out with his buchou.

The girl jumped up in happiness and yelled out in quick English,"Yes! The Saxons win! That makes me 6,000 Yen richer!"

The buchou of the tennis team looked at the television in shock, rewinding to watch what had happened again. Once he did the girl hit his shoulder lightly with her open hand, speaking in Japanese this time,"Come on you. A bet's a bet."

The regulars who knew that voice looked to eachother, what was Ryuuka doing here?

"Ryuuka-chan?" The sleepy Jirou asked out, wanting to know why she was there.

The girl turned her caramel eyes to them and smirked, facing back to their buchou,"Come on now, none of us have all day."

Their buchou stood up and dug out the many bills and handed them to her in slight anger. She licked the tips of her fingers and counted them,"I like winning money from you. We should bet more often. Right, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Ryuuka snickerd at Kabaji. She had asked him that because she had already known the answer.

"Ore-sama says that you had dumb luck."

Ryuuka snorted and walked past the regulars,"Dumb luck my ass."

* * *

I smiled and walked merrily to the school to go to my first Cultural Committee meeting. I was quite excited about it actually.

"Ah, Ryuuka-san." Taki said to me as I walked into the room. I nodded to him with a smile.

"Hello, Taki-san."

He ushered me to a seat and I saw the other seven people there, my eyes stopping on the person next to me,"Ootori-san?"

"Eh, Ryuuka-san?"

"You two know eachother?"

I nodded to Taki,"Yeah, we eat lunch together."

He nodded,"Good, well- everyone this is Ryuuka, Simone. She has volunteered to be able to take Choutarou's place and my place since we are both in the tennis club."

I only nodded to the others in the group. I hadn't exactly agreed to that part, but it would just be me attending the meetings.

A girl to left of the room breathed out and spoke softly,"Good. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to have enough committee members since the tennis season started. Thank you, Ryuuka-san. I'm Mimori, Kotone."

I nodded to her, happy that I was getting some new friends that liked what I did. This was a great idea.

* * *

I really do love how this is going. Anyone have anyone words to give me?

~Tai.


	9. Familiar Anger

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 9: Familiar Anger

* * *

I yawned and stretched my arms as I walked out of my home to get to school. I let them drop to my sides and opened the metal gate, stepping out onto the sidewalk. I looked up to walk and saw Shishido. I jogged up to him,"Shishido-san, why are you walking to school this late? Aren't you usually there by now?"

Shishido gave me a quick glance, but than returned to staring forward. He was usually at morning practice, but I guess that he didn't have it this morning. I sighed and ignored his silence, looking forward and wishing that the school would hurry into view.

* * *

"Ne, Ootori-san?" I asked my silver-haired kouhai. Shishido had left to go to the bathroom and I wanted to understand why he had been so silent.

"Hai, Ryuuka-san?"

I moved some of my rice around and looked him right in the eyes. Caramel eyes to brown ones.

"Why is Shishido-san so quiet today? He seems more angsty than ever."

The kouhai moved his gaze away, looking anywhere but at me. I leaned forward,"Well?"

He gulped and stuttered out,"He l-lost his m-match. It was against F-Fudomine's c-captain, Tachibana K-Kippei."

I looked down at my food, immeaditely understanding why Shishido was acting the way he was. He had just lost his spot as a regular- that was something that I was guessing he had worked a long time to get. I moved some of my rice around, scrunching my eyebrows in thought.

"Uh, Ryuuka-san."

I looked up to Choutaru,"Hm?"

"I need to go. Tell Shishido-senpai that Yamazuki-sensei needed me."

I nodded to the tall, silver-haired boy and he hurried away. Unlike most days that he was called away, Kishi-chan didn't pop up next to my side, but Shishido came back.

"Where's Ootori[1]?"

I looked up,"His sensei called for him."

Shishido nodded and looked down at his food, eating a bit of it. I glanced back and forth from my food to him, contemplating. I finally sighed and put my chopsticks down, looking at my food,"I'm sorry."

I could feel his stare on me,"For what?"

"Ootori-san told me about what happened on Sunday."

Shishido was quiet for a moment. I looked up to see him looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"What?"

"You don't have to say your sorry- I wasn't good enough."

I stared at him with my mouth slightly agape, not good enough? I may not know much about tennis- but I know that our team had around 200 hundred members. You had to be good, no great, to be a regular.

"That doesn't sound right."

He looked to me again,"What do you mean?"

I scoffed slightly,"Well, you have to probably be great to be a Regular in the first place- meaning that you just got stuck in a pickle of a situation."

He glared at me,"And what would you know?"

I glared back,"I know that you've been sulking about that all day."

His glare seemed to intensify,"What? I have not been you annoying girl!"

"Yes you have! And than when I try to maybe give you some sympathy you don't say a thing!"

"You wouldn't understand, you've never even tried at anything!"

I growled and stood up,"I have to tried at things! But you would never care to know them would you? You're just being some selfish idiot! Open your eyes and look at yourself in a mirror for once! Things can't always be perfect!"

I stopped, my chest going up and down as I breathed angrily. I didn't notice many of the people in the room stopping to watch what was going on.

I watched as Shishido stood up, glaring down at me and speaking through his clenched teach,"Don't speak to me like that."

I glared at him even more, getting ready to walk away,"I will if I want to. I've wanted to say all of this for years! So go think about yourself you selfish baka!"

I stormed out of the eating room and down to the infirmary to complain about my stomach aching.

* * *

I sighed, it had been three days since Shishido and I had lashed out harsh words at eachother. No, I wasn't regretting them, I was really wishing that I had said more. I wish that I could have yelled at him about how he was acting like such a child and needed to grow up. I looked down at the sheets in my hand. I had to find Choutarou and give him the papers from the meeting. Kotone said that she would give Taki's paper's to him herself since he was her neighbor as long as I would give Choutarou's to him.

I could always wait to give the papers to the kouhai until tomorrow, but I wanted to get it over with now and not have to deal with it tomorrow.

"R-Ryuuka-san?"

I turned to my right to see a slightly flustered Choutarou. He was holding his racket, a water bottle, and a small towel. I raised my eyebrows, confused because clubs had ended thirty minutes ago, but I dismissed it. I walked over to him and handed him the papers,"These are yours from the meeting. Mimori-san said that she would be glad if you were able to give them to her tomorrow."

He nodded,"Um, Ryuuka-san?"

I looked up at the boy,"Yes, Ootori-san?"

He opened his mouth for a moment, but decided against whatever he was going to say,"Nevermind."

I nodded, walking towards the school entrance,"Okay. Bye, Ootori-san."

"Bye."

* * *

"It's finally gotten around about your fight with Shishido."

I looked up to Jirou from my sitting position outside. I had been trying to read my new book, but he had decided to speak. I nodded,"What about it?"

"It sounds like you guys really went all out." The acrobatic Mukahi stated as he bounced over, snatching my book from me.

I glared at the boy and stood up,"Give that back, Rubber Band!"

* * *

Shishido looked out the window, ignoring Kira-sensei and what she was saying about Geometry. He hated that he was taking this class, but he needed it to graduate. His eyes caught someone running and he saw Mukahi jumping around the courtyard.

Shishido ignored him, figuring it was just his free period. He noticed another figure running after him. It was Ryuuka. He watched her chase the idiot around the courtyard and back around the corner. The boy glared at where she had last been before deciding that Geometry was better than her[2].

The long haired former regular of Hyotei walked out of his last class to go to practice. He glared at the ground as he walked, he would be practicing among the pre-regulars since he was no longer an actual one. That really angered him. He grunted and walked into the boy's locker room to change into his clothes.

"Nerd-san!" A voice yelled, piercing through the tennis courts.

Shishido glanced from the far side of the courts to see Ryuuka running up to Oshitari, asking him something that he couldn't hear. Mukahi began to laugh at the girl, who then yelled at him for a moment. The tensai pointed to his things and the strawberry blonde girl picked up the top book, taking out many of the papers before she ran off the courts. She once again evaded Atobe.

"Shishido-san, are you ready?"

Shishido nodded to the silver-haired boy across the court from him. He was determined to regain the pride that he had lost. He jumped forward and smacked the neon ball back to his kouhai. He was determined to become a Regular again.

* * *

[1] Shishido isn't on a first name basis with Choutaru yet.

[2] At that moment I yell 'Oh Snap!' because Shishido hates Geometry

I like to keep my times in check, so I'm literally going by the actual days in 2007. This chapter started on Monday- the fight, three days later- papers to Choutarou, Friday- Mukahi speaks. That's it than. :]

~Tai.


	10. English Plans

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 10: English Plans

* * *

I nodded to Kishi-chan as she told me about the match Hyotei was going to have against St. Rudolph Gakuin to qualify themselves for the Kantou Tournament. We were sitting in my classroom and eating our lunch. I was glad that she had offered to keep me company by coming to the room- it was nice to have a good friend.

"Hey, Kishi-chan?" I asked her when she was done speaking.

"Yea?" She responded back, stealing a piece of food from my bento.

I smirked to her,"When are you going to actually speak to Ootori-san?"

She choked a little on the piece she was eating and tried to regain her composure,"U-Uhm... W-Well..."

I laughed, this was great. A senpai was embarrassed around her kouhai... This should be easy peasy for her. The tone sounded and she got up from the desk in front of me,"See you tomorrow, Ryuu-chan."

"Same to you, Kishi-chan."

I sighed and took out my book for this class, hoping that we would have to do anything with actual conversation today. I didn't look up as the desk in front of me became occupied again, this time by my class partner.

A clap was heard from the front and I turned around to look at Penny-sensei.

"Today I want each of you to practice a standard conversation in English- this shouldn't be too difficult."

I groaned and turned back around, kami-sama must be punishing me for some reason.

"Hello." I decided that I should just start the conversation.

Shishido slowly responded, trying to pick his words carefully even though he had been studying them for almost two months.

"Hey."

"How are you?" This was child's play for me. I looked at my nails boredly as the boy in front of me responded.

"I'm okay, and you?"

"Eh, I could be better."

The boy glared to me since I had answered his question unconventionally. I knew that he wouldn't understand it all that well, but whatever- not my problem.

"Could you not do that?"

"Do what?"

"That!"

I smirked,"Oh, you mean this? Seriously, Shishido- you should know how to decipher what I'm saying by now. Oh, wait, that's right- you're a lost cause. You aren't good enough, isn't that right?"

His glare intensified since he couldn't understand me all that great, but he knew that by my smug attitude I was poking fun at him. I snorted and took a look at my English book, leaving the boy to steam.

* * *

"Are you gonna come watch us destroy St. Rudolph, Ryuuka-chan?" Jirou asked me again. I thought about it, I really did. I mean... I wasn't doing anything. And the Cultural Committee was meeting Saturday.

I sighed inwardly and nodded,"Why not? I'll be there if I can."

"You will?" A loud Mukahi yelled, now doing cartwheels and flips around the courtyard. I snickered and kicked the ball at my feet back to Jirou.

"Yay! You get to see me play, Ryuuka-chan!"

I laughed at my two friends. I guess that watching them play tennis wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

Another short-ish one. I feel a little bad now, haha. This kind of happened since I had written it to be this way and adding on more would be a hassle of trouble in my mind. This'll be the only one that's this short proabably, though.

~Tai.

[P.S. Thank you** ZzBlack KnightzZ** for Reviewing! :DDDD!]


	11. Sunday's Tennis

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 11: Sunday's Tennis

* * *

I was tired to say in the least. I had run from home since I was late to get to the match. I had run out of the house while still jumping into my red shoes. I wore a blue hoodie with long, white sleeves and than my gray capris. I walked into the court area- spotting one with a bunch of people around it. I noticed a soda machine near the court and decided that I would get something to drink first.

When I came and sat down in the front, opening my can of Lemonade Ponta, I was able to watch the guy from Hyotei walk off the court, full of shame. We had obviously lost that one. I snorted, thinking of Shishido.

"The next match is Singles 2, Fuji Yuuta v.s. Akutagawa Jirou."

I looked up and watched the two walk into the court. Jirou looked slightly bored, but hopefully he would end up more energetic soon. The Fuji Yuuta kid reminded me a little bit of Shishido... Hopefully he wasn't anything like him.

I watched as Yuuta served and Jirou went flying for it.

"15- love!"

I guess that that was for Jirou. I never really did get tennis that much. I pumped my fist light in the air and let out a pathetic cheer,"Go Gawa-san."

Jirou's smiling face turned to me as he hit the neon fuzz ball back to the other side of the court.

"30- love!"

"You made it Ryuuka-chan!"

I nodded, scratching the back of my head and nervously laughing. Great, people were looking at me.

I took a sip of my Ponta and watched as the game ended in 15 minutes, 6-1. That was the first victory for Hyotei.

I smiled and waved to Jirou again before glancing over to the Yuuta kid. He walked off the court sightly angry and dissapointed, but he didn't act like it was the end of the world. I blew air out of my nose, good, he was nothing like Shishido.

"Doubles 1 will now begin. Kisarazu and Yanagisawa v.s. Kabaji and Kaida."

I gave a larger fist pump for Kabaji since he was actually pretty likeable,"Go Kabaji!"

"Usu."

I snickered at his response and took a sip from my Ponta again. The match was quick. Around twenty to twenty-five minutes. St. Rudolph's Double had gotten 2 points off of our side, but we prevailed with 6-2. Hyotei's second win.

I sipped up the last of my Ponta and stood up, tossing the can away in the nearby trash can. I looked up to see the boy from the St. Rudolph team with the red headband looking at me. I rose one eyebrow at him before going back to my former spot.

"Singles 1 will now start. Mizuki Hajime v.s. Atobe Keigo."

I folded my arms across my chest as Atobe walked onto the court. He flipped his hair and than spoke over to me in English,"Will you cheer for Ore-sama, Ryuuka-san?"

I snorted,"Fat chance, 'ore-sama'."

I snickered as I had made fun of his self-proclaimed name and he huffed, looking back to his opponent. He could be such a diva at times.

I was quite impressed with the match I saw, though. This Mizuki guy had only been able to get a point off of Atobe, and in my opinion it was pure luck. Atobe had a really good strategy- whatever it was. It was no wonder that he was the captain of our tennis team.

I looked away as we won our third game in less than twenty minutes, 6-1. I figured that since Jirou was smiling happily that that meant we had won the whole thing. Personally I was now thinking about how much time I wasted at this thing. I stood up and walked over to Jirou since he was waving me over.

"What did you think, Ryuuka-san?"

I smiled to the energetic boy,"It was interesting. But it wasn't that long- I could have spent that hour sleeping at home."

The boy knew I was partially joking with him, but still pouted slightly. I laughed and offered to get him a soda.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can you get me an Orange Ponta?"

I nodded and walked to where I had gotten my first soda. I saw that Yuuta kid there.

"You're that Fuji, Yuuta kid, right?"

The boy turned and watched as I walked past him and to the soda machine.

"Yea, what about it?"

I smirked, maybe he was like Shishido.

"I like your attitude."

He looked at me, obviously confused. I slid the coins from my pocket into the machine slowly,"Well, you lost a match and you didn't sulk around like it was the end of the world. When I saw that I figured that you'd be able to spring back soon enough. I may not know you personally, but you remind me of someone I know."

I bent down and picked up the two drinks that had fallen down,"The only difference is that you'll bounce back cause you know your goals and keep them in mind. The boy I know is just stuck sulking."

I walked past the slightly shocked boy and over to the boy that was running to meet me.

"Here you go, Gawa-san."

"Arigatou, Ryuuka-chan! Come on, Mukahi wants to tell you something important!"

I snickered at how happy Jirou was even though he would be asleep after a few minutes. I hurried after him, not thinking about looking back to the St. Rudolph boy.

* * *

I wiped my forehead with the back of my sleeve, tired from walking so much. I had split ways from the Hyotei team since they were going to do something. I didn't know. I just wanted to get home.

"Hello, Simone-chan."

I waved to Elrin as he walked up the steps to his house. It was amazing to think that he was even related the Shishido. I moved my hair back, thinking about finding a hairtie when I got home.

I shut the gate behind me and hurried up the steps to find the door unlocked. I found no problem with this since I was tired and opened the door,"Ne, Chichi[1]! Sofu! I'm home!"

I didn't hear anyone coming to greet me back so I turned to lock the door. I heard it click and I turned back around, and right into someone's chest. I yelped and jumped back.

"Nice greeting, Imouto[2]."

I smiled widely and embraced the boy in front of me,"Jeram-ani! I'm so glad you're here!"

I hadn't seen my brother for two and a half months. That was way too long for my liking. He was six years older than me and in his third year of college. He was still the single 20-year-old he was the last time I saw him, but I was glad that he was the same.

He ruffled my strawberry blonde hair,"Where were you?"

I smiled and walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge to get a cup of juice,"I decided to go to a tennis match since a friend of mine was playing."

My brother leaned forward and took a sip of my juice. His dark blonde hair touched the outside pieces of the glass as his brown eyes asked me the question that came out of his mouth,"Tennis? You've never been interested in sports."

I nodded and took my juice back, gulping the rest of the glass down,"Well, I decided that since Gawa-san asked me to come to the match that I should go support him as a friend. It actually wasn't that bad."

My brother laughed and hugged me tight, rubbing his fist on my head,"Who's got a boyfriend?"

I struggled to get out of his grip,"I don't have a boyfriend...!"

He laughed at my squirming, right up to the moment that I elbowed his gut. He let go of me and clutched his stomach,"Itai..."

"Well, it looks like sibling bonding."

I smiled to my father as he walked over to the two of us,"Chichi!"

He laughed and patted my brother's shoulder,"Hey, son."

"Hey, Chichi."

I laughed with my dad and brother as our dad told us about something that had happened at the college dorms today.

"That better not happen where you go, Jeram."

Jeram shook his head, laughing,"Never happens."

I laughed and looked to my brother,"Don't you have a roommate?"

He shook his head,"No, I live alone, remember? Though, it can get quite boring."

"Why don't you get a cat or something?"

I immeaditely regretted saying anything since my brother got that mischevious glint in his eyes. He stood up and grabbed me, plopping me into my shoes by the door. After he knew I had them on he opened the door and ran with me trying to keep up behind him, laughing all the way.

* * *

"Ryou, come down and eat!"

Shishido sighed and sat up in his bed. He hadn't done anything that Sunday. Choutarou was busy helping his sister with something so there had been no chance of any training. He stood up from his bed and decided to go downstairs to eat.

The long-haired boy sat at the table to eat whatever it was that his mother had decided to cook that night. He bit into a piece of what he guessed was meat and the dinner conversation began.

"I heard that the Ryuuka's boy came back from college to visit for a few days." His mother stated so as to start the conversation at the table.

Elrin looked up,"Jeram-san's back from college? I'll have to go say hi to him tomorrow after school."

"He's going for a degree in kind of design thing, isn't he?" Their father said, wondering aloud.

"Yes, I think it was something like that."

...

"Imouto, get back here with Kyoji!"

"Never, I'm taking him from you!"

...

Shishido's mother chuckled at the commotion that ran by the front of their house. She knew that it was the Ryuuka siblings catching up from the last time Jeram visited.

Shishido looked down at his now empty plate and looked to his father,"Can I go back up to my room?"

"What do you need to do?"

Shishido knew what he was going to do, but decided against the truth,"I need to complete my Geometry worksheets."

His father nodded and the boy brought his plate into the kitchen before he walked up the stairs and into his room. He went back to thinking about what he was going to do to regain what he lost.

* * *

[1] Chichi is what you use when talking about or to your father.

[2] Imouto is what you use when talking to or about your little sister

Shishido is one track minded isn't he? Ne, I guess it's determination, but I dunno. A little odd in my opinion

~Tai.

[I want to apologize. I spelled the username of the person who reviewed wrong DX. It is **XxBlack NightxX** so thank you again for reviewing! :D]


	12. Staircase Companion

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 12: Staircase Companion

* * *

I laughed at my brother as Kyoji walked around his legs. Jeram was doing his best to not get tangled in the blue leash of the medium sized collie dog. He decided to go get Kyoji some toys today so the two of them were walking me to school. I looked up to the gates as they came closer.

I bent down to Kyoji and rubbed his face, shaking him,"Oh you're so cute. I'll see you after school."

I kissed the dog's head and stood back up, waving to my brother,"See you after school, Jeram-ani."

"Bye, Imouto."

* * *

I sunk deep in my seat as Kobayashi-sensei finally finished calling the roll.

"Psst, Ryuuka-chan."

I looked back to Jirou,"Yea, Gawa-san?"

"Thanks for coming Sunday- I didn't get to thank you."

I laughed and shook my hand,"It's fine. I enjoyed watching you guys- it was pretty interesting."

I turned back to the front in my seat, slumping down as the town rang. Shishido stod up from the seat in front of me and sat in the one to my right as he did everyday. I sighed and put my head on my arms, I was really tired for some reason.

* * *

Shishido listened as Sikomori-sensei began on one of her longue speeches on whatever the day's topic was. He wasn't exactly focused on her at the moment. He wasn't really focused on anything. Though, he had noticed that sensei hadn't said one thing to Ryuuka all class. He looked to his left to see that the girl that usually had her feet on the chair in front of her was sound asleep.

In all the years he had had classes with Ryuuka, he had never actually seen her sleep in a class. Shishido broke his stare on her and put it back to the empty space that he had been thinking about the moment before.

Ding Ding Ding.

Shishido grabbed his bag that he always had with him and was getting ready to leave the classroom. He looked down to his left to see the still sleeping girl. He thought about leaving her to sleep, but a stupid nagging voice told his not to. He shook her roughly and her eyes opened. When she looked awake Shishido left the room so that he could get to class.

* * *

I yawned loudly and opened my bento, taking a look at everything in it. I snickered, seeing that it was obviously not made by my grandfather. Across the food was the word 'imouto' made with what I was going to suspect was Wasabi paste or something.

I wiped most of it off and took one of the small pieces, chewing it slowly.

"Che."

I looked up behind me to see a boy with caramel hair and grey eyes. I was going to guess he was my kouhai, but I didnt know. Oh, I was sitting on the stairs today to eat my lunch since Kishi-chan was talking to one of her sensei's about a grade so maybe this was hit spot[1]. I scooted to my right and made room.

"Do you want to sit down?"

The boy stood there for a moment before taking the spot on the stair next to me. I looked from him and down to my food. I guess I could be nice,"You like shellfish?"

The boy looked to me and gave me a slight nod. I was guessing that he was antisocial or something. I picked up something from my bag and handed him them,"I had an extra pair today. You can have some if you want."

The boy decided to use the chopsticks even though he was not very fond of using other people's things. He took a piece of the shellfish sushi and ate it slowly. He swallowed it and heard a laugh next to him. He looked over to me again.

"I'm Ryuuka, Simone. 3rd Year."

He nodded to me,"Hiyoshi, Wakashi. 2nd."

I chuckled as he took another piece from my bento. I took a piece from it also, enjoying my new found staircase companion.

* * *

[1] Hiyoshi is frequently spotted on the stairs and he does like shellfish, so he decided to make his appearenece.

I must have lied to myself. I ended up making another short chapter. D:

I apologize. I hate it when there this short, too.

Thanks to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ**: I didn't forget how to spell it this time :D!  
**Michiko-Chii**  
**tazdevil**  
**Shadowsnow**

~Tai.


	13. Goodnight Routine

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 13: Goodnight Routine

* * *

"Naa, Hiyoshi-kouhai, what do you do for fun?" I asked the boy next to me. I decided to claim this kouhai for myself since everyone else around me seemed to be claiming them like prizes.

The caramel-haired boy swallowed the piece of shellfish sushi he hand gotten from my bento with his personal chopsticks.

"I play tennis and I work for the school newspaper."

I aww'ed at the newspaper part and asked him if he ever had anything published in the paper before.

"I have a few times, but none of my pictures have ever made it."

I nodded,"I have to say, kouhai, that's more than I could have ever gotten into a paper. What's the word? Ah, sugoi[1]."

* * *

Shishido walked down the hall to get back to the cafeteria area from the bathroom. He had been working extra hard lately and knew that after a while more of practice that he would be able to win back his spot.

"I have to say, kouhai, that's more than I could have ever gotten into a paper. What's the word? Ah, sugoi."

"Arigatou, Ryuuka-senpai."

"Ah, ah- call me chan."

"Uh, Ryuuka-chan?"

Shishido slowed down and glanced towards the doors to the staircase. One was open as it usually was, letting the sound from the two on the staircase echo out. He walked slightly closer and looked in.

He saw Ryuuka with what she said was her kouhai, meaning that he was obviously an underclassmen. She was laughing with him as they shared a bento. Shishido felt a bit of anger bubble up inside him and he quickly turned away. He growled at himself, trying to forget whatever was going on[2].

* * *

"Ryuuka, what is the answer to number 34?"

I looked to my homework to get the answer for Kira-sensei. I had actually been doing better in this class, in my opinion anyways.

"Thirty-Two degrees South of the Building."

I had known to not answer her questions and make it sound like another question after she had begun picking me out for that reason. She looked at me intensly before nodding,"Good job, Ryuuka. I guess that Oshitari is finally rubbing off of you."

I made a face of disgust after she turned around. That was the worst possible way to word that statement.

* * *

Shishido walked through the halls with a mission. He was going to find that damn Mukahi and break him a new one. That stretchy freak had humiliated him in their Second Period and now that he was in his Free Period he could get payback. He figured that Mukahi still have the same 5th period bathroom break that he had back in their first year- the boy was so predictable.

"Out in the hall now, Nagaoka! That is the last time you interupt my class!"

Shishido didn't pay as much attention as he should have when the door in front of him open. He jumped back and gripped his face in agony as the one who opened the door looked to him,"Are?"

He opened one eye to get a good look at the person, it was a girl of course[3]. Her hair was a medium brown and reached a little past her shoulders. She had mischevious dark blue eyes and pale skin. She wore one dangly earring and her uniform was put together sloppily,"Ne, you shouldn't walk into doors, baka."

Shishido glared at the girl as she sauntered down the hall towards wherever. He grunted and angrily gave up what he had set out to do- Mukahi was probably already back in class.

* * *

"Bye Gawa-san! Rubber Band!" I yelled to my two friends as I began to run for the school gates. Today was the last day that Jeram was going to be in town, making his stay almost a full week. I skidded to a stop as I saw my brother come into view.

"Jeram-ani!"

"Imouto!"

He rubbed my hair wildly before grabbing my arm and taking me towards the shopping center.

"Ne, Jeram."

"Hai?"

I pulled a slip from my bag and handed it to him,"You think that dad would sign this?"

Jeram took the sheet and deadpanned at what it read.

'An** Educational** water gun fight scenario'

He didn't even bother to read the rest of the slip and handed it back to his sister,"I'm sure he'll get a kick out of it."

I punched my brother's arm happily,"Woo!"

Jeram laughed and looked down to his sister, noticing that she was a little dim. He poked her shoulder,"Why so dim, lightbulb[4]?"

"Ne? I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, to the store!" It was my turn to grab my brother's arm and make a run for our next destination.

* * *

"Shishido-san, I think that we should end today." The tired 2nd year spoke up from across the field to his senpai on the other end.

Choutarou knew that his senpai wouldn't admit that he was getting tired, but it was evident. He could see him panting on the other side.

"Okay than, Ootori."

Shishido walked down the sidewalk to his house tiredly. Even then, he could feel that the training was working- he could feel his skills increasing.

"Naa, I wish that you could stay another night."

"No can do, imouto. I have to get back to school."

"I was talking to Koyji, not you Jeram-ani."

Shishido was coming into view of not only his house, but the Ryuuka siblings saying goodbye. Ryuuka, Jeram had grown up from the last time Shishido had seen him, but everyone has grown up since than. He saw Simone rubbing her head against a medium-sized collie.

"Oh, you just crushed my heart."

The girl stood up, laughing,"I'm gonna miss you."

The two hugged for a brief moment. The older one ended the hug and poked his sister's forehead,"I'll miss you, too. You're lightbulb better be fully screwed in when I come back- You're dimming, imouto."

She snorted and crossed her arms,"As if. Goodbye, Jeram-ani."

"See ya, Simone."

The boy got into a car with the collie and drove off down the road. Shishido looked away from the scene and opened the gate to his house. He thought about when his brother would leave for college. They were close and his brother had always been there for him- he wondered if they would become more distant when he left.

He shook his head of the thoughts and unlocked the door to his house and opened the door to greet his family at the dinner table.

* * *

[1] Sugoi: Wow. (I figured that some people may not know this)

[2] Jealousy with Shishido? Oh, the poor boy. haha

[3] This girl is important. So is the guy that Simone had met in detention- I forgot to mention that XD.

[4] Lightbulb is what Jeram calls Simone- he's comparing her bright attitude to it.

Hehehe, Shishido has the first signs of jealousy. Why is Simone's light so dim? I'll have to remember why. There was a little bad humor in there if you can find it, haha.

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ**: I didn't forget how to spell it this time :D!  
**Michiko-Chii**  
**tazdevil**  
**Shadowsnow**

~Tai.


	14. AfterSchool Field Trip

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 14: After-School Field Trip

* * *

Fuji, Yuuta walked down to the courts with determination on this Wednesday morning on June 4th. He had finally decided what he was going to do about that nagging voice in his head. He walked up to the team manager, Mizuki Hajime, and spoke.

"Where is Hyotei located?"

* * *

"Okay, you all know what country or countries you have been assigned." Jin-sensei said as he looked the class over.

I had been happy to realize that my proclamation on the desk hadn't been for nothing. We were actually going to have a water fight. Of course, it was educational and we were not going to be wearing our normal school unfirorms. Each of us for the colors of the flags of the country we had, also holding different sized water guns.

I looked down at myself proudly. I wore dark blue shorts with white shoes and than my white and red tank top. I was obviously the USA and Canada. I looked to my water gun and smiled even wider than I already was. The only countries with bigger or the same sized water guns as me was Russia, Germany, England, and China.

Jin-sensei explained that if you were destroyed that you would sit down and after five minutes if an ally didn't come to save you you wuld put your water gun on the ground and come back to the classroom. There was hidden "bombs", really just a few water balloons, around the courtyard. You couldn't attack allys, so I was hoping that this would be easy.

"England, run for it, China's coming around the corner!" I yelled to the guy next to me, running down the courtyard to avoid China's soaker. I dove into a bush and found a surpise.

I jumped up and tossed the water balloon to my ally,"England, catch!"

Thankfuly it hadn't burst and the boy used it on the oncoming alliance of the African countries. I sat back in slight relief that we were saved from those lunatics. I mean this with all seriousness, the group that had been chosen for that alliance was a bunch of nutjobs.

"America- run!"

I looked to see England get pelted by China in the face. I gasped and began to look around for a spot to get more water for my gun. I looked around more and was thrilled to see a water pistol lying on the ground. I ran to it and than right up to China's face,"In the name of North America, bam!"

The water pistol let out all of it's contents onto the girl-who-played-China's face. I snickered at her unhappy expression and I tagged England. We belly-bumped and walked back to the classroom with victory on our shoulders.

* * *

"Ryuuka-chan, why is your hair all wet?"

I looked to my kouhai and laughed,"We had an educational water world battle in my second period."

He shrugged his shoulders at me and took some food from my bento. If it wasn't for his interest as to why I was wet than I would have accused him of only hanging out with me for my food.

"Ryuu-chan!"

I looked down to the frantic Kishi-chan,"What is it, Kishi-chan?"

She looked from me to Hiyoshi in slight confusion. I sighed and pointed my hand to him,"This is Hiyoshi-kouhai."

"Oh, I'm Kishigami, Hana."

I coughed and the girl remembered and ran up to me, whispering in my ear. My eyes widened and I hugged her,"I'm so glad to hear that! You'll be able to get you-know-who."

I nudged her with my elbow and her face lit up ten notches of red. I laughed and looked to Hiyoshi,"Oh, Hiyoshi, do you know Ootori from Tennis?"

The caramel-haired boy nodded lightly, not looking at either of us. I shrugged to Kishi-chan and chuckled,"See, everyone knows about this Kishi-chan."

She blushed again and squirmed under my stare,"Nyeeh- don't do that."

I laughed at the girl again, she was quite something.

* * *

Fuji, Yuuta was currently walking through the gates to Hyotei. He took a guess that the girl he was coming to see would still be at the school since it had just ended. He had made sure to wear something other than his school uniform to the enemy school. He decided on a pair of blue pants and a large, red t-shirt. That's simple enough.

He was looking for anyone. He stopped, seeing someone, and was about to call out, but the guy he was going to call to turned around angrily, his ponytail moving back and forth. Yuuta decided on the next person to walk by.

"Excuse me."

Mimori, Kotone looked to the foreign face and raised an eyebrow,"What is it?"

"Do you know where Ryuuka is?"

Momori sighed and shook her head,"No, but Kishi-senpai should know. She's in the first building."

She pointed to the one behind her and Yuuta left quickly. Whatever that was about she really didn't want to know.

* * *

Kishigami, Hana banged her head lightly on the wall as she sighed, she had screwed up horribly. She had nearly embarrassed herself to death in front of Choutarou, her crush.

"Are you Kishi?"

She jumped slightly and gripped her forehead, looking to the boy speaking to her. He looked very unfamiliar. She rubbed her head and nodded,"Y-Yes, I am.

Yuuta was relieved as he asked her,"Do you know where Ryuuka is?"

Hana's eyes lit up, a boy for Ryuu-chan?

"Ryuu-chan has cleaning duty today. She should be upstairs in room 3-C."

The boy nodded and quickly went to the stairs. Hana smiled for her friend before she remembered her own boy troubles. She than proceeded to put her head back onto the wall.

* * *

"Ugh, stupid sensei and his stupidness. 'You trailed water in the hallway'. Ugh, jackass." I murmured this as I finished up sweeping my homeroom. I wasn't talking about Kobayashi-sensei of course, I was talking abut Sakuji-sensei. His jolly fatass almost got me a week's detention for nothing.

I sighed angrily and put my backpack around my shoulder. I was already wearing my shorts and long sleeve shirt, my school clothes in my bag. I turned off the lights and closed the door behind me.

"Do you always talk to yourself?"

I turned around with a glare, thinking it was someone else,"Do you have a problem with that Shi-Oh..."

I stopped to see a familiar face. It took me a moment, but I snapped my fingers when it clicked,"Fuji, Yuuta from St. Rudolph, right?"

He nodded,"I know part of your name is Ryuuka."

I motioned to myself with my hands,"Ryuuka, Simone- the best senpai ever. I swear, all of my kouhai's are begging to be my friend."

He rose an eyebrow to me, he was probably thinking that I was an oddball. I laughed it off and looked up to him,"So, what brings you to my school? Are you spying?"

He shook his head,"No, I was looking for you actually."

By this time we had led ourselves to the stairs. I glanced up to this silver-eyed boy,"Eh? Me? Why me?"

"Well-"

"Kishi-chan, what are you doing?"

"Eek!" My friend shrieked as I had apparently startled her. I hadn't meant to interrupt Yuuta, but by friend was bashing her head onto a wall.

She fidgeted like crazy. I scrunched my eyebrows together,"What did you do?"

"Nyee, I-I'll see you tomorrow, Ryuu-chan!"

I watched as she ran down the hall. Something was definetaly wrong with the poor girl. I looked back up to Yuuta as we headed for the doors,"So, why me again?"

"I want to know ho-"

"Ryuuka-senpai."

I took the papers that Kotone handed me. Her blonde hair shifted as her green eyes looked at me,"They're for the Cultural Students."

I nodded,"Ne, arigatou Mimori-san."

She walked off and I looked back up to Yuuta, but he was silent.

"Um, we probably won't have anyone else walk up."

"Well, I was wondering how you were able to te-"

A bus drove by quickly and drowned out the boy next to me. I snorted with laughter and turned right,"Come on, let's find someplace quieter to talk."

* * *

"Hm," I paused as I took a sip from my Lime Ponta,"I was only really able to describe you because of someone I know, Shishido Ryou."

"Who's he?"

I looked foreward with a blank look,"To put it bluntly, a dumbass."

Yuuta looked at me as if he had been called the dumbass. I shook my head,"I mean after the decision he made. Well, let's see. I'll start a little back more. He's got pretty long hair that he ties back in a ponytail and lately he's had this angry angst look on his face."

Yuuta immeaditely thought back to the first person he was going to ask for help. Now he was a little glad that this Shishido had walk away.

"And, when I saw you, you reminded me of him. More in some ways than others. You both had about the same response to my usual comments, a snarky one."

I paused to take a sip of my Ponta before I continued,"But the similarities ended a little bit after that. Not too long ago Shishido got kicked off of the tennis regulars when he lost a match to some captain guy from another school. I understand that it's something to be a little sad about, you know?"

Yuuta nodded, doing his best to understand what I was saying. I didn't know if he really got it, but I was going to continue anyways.

"Well, I tried to show him some sympathy since the two of us had been getting a a little closer than we had been. He ends up giving me this jackass response, and that was when I noticed that this was going to be how he was going to act for the rest of his life! So, I did what I've been wanting to since Second Grade, I yelled at him. I called him selfish and I almost called him a child, but I had forgotten that at the time." I took a moment to breath and scrunched my eyebrows together.

"You lost a match against Gawa-san, and it looked like the match had been pretty one-sided," Yuuta flinched at the comment,"but you still had that goal in your eyes. You weren't about to let that one match stop you from doing what you've been wanting to for so long. Fuji-sa-"

"Don't call me by that." Yuuta said to me sternly. I only nodded and went on.

"Yuuta-san, that is where you and Shishido stopped being similar. You haven't given up on your dream. The once confident Shishido has."

I looked down at my empty Ponta can, feeling a bit better now that I had told someone all of this. It was silent between the two of us for a few minutes. I was positive that I answered his question, I just didn't know if I had done it in the right way.

Yuuta stood up and looked down to me,"Let's go get some ice cream or something."

I snickered at him and threw away my Ponta can to follow him.

* * *

"What do you want?"

"Hm? Oh, um, Strawberry."

I looked around the small stand. This place seemed familiar. Maybe Jirou had told me about seeing his idol Marui around here somewhere. I shrugged it off and took the ice cream that Yuuta handed me,"Ah, arigatou."

"No problem."

We walked down the sidewalk together, just eating our ice creams. Though, something was nagging at me.

"Yuuta-san."

"Hm?"

"What's your goal?" I looked up to him and his eyes got hard. Oh yea, he was a lot more determined that Shishido was being.

"I used to look up to my brother, Fuji Syuusuke."

I nodded, letting the boy continue on even though I had never heard of the boy.

"When I started middle school last year I was always being compared to him, I didn't even go out for the tennis team because of it. I was always Fuji-san's little brother. I ended up transferring to St. Rudolph for this year and I became a Tennis Regular so that I can face my brother one day and defeat him."

I nodded as the boy finished, I had made it down to my cone by then. What could I say? I was a speed eater.

"That's a great goal. I would say that I had something cool like that as a goal, but my older brother's not even close to my age and I don't play sports, ehehe."

Yuuta chuckled at me and took another bite of his ice cream. We came up some an intersection and I turned to the St. Rudolph boy,"Well, my house is that way, so I guess we'll spilt up here."

He shook his head and began to go the way I pointed,"I'll walk you home."

I snorted,"Well, aren't you a gentleman."

* * *

"Well, my house is here." I said to the boy behind me and began to open the gate.

"I'll see you another time, Ryuuka-san?"

I nodded,"Yea, call me whenever you end up with a problem or a tennis match or even something really stupid. And if I have to call you Yuuta, you have to call me Simone."

His cheeks held a slight blush and he looked down to his left,"Alright, Simone-san."

I laughed,"See ya, Yuuta-san."

I closed the door to my home and greeted Salmon, remembering that Cori needed to be fed today.

* * *

Yuuta turned away from the gate and began to make his way back to his school. He had gotten what he went to Hyotei for and a little more than what he expected. He put his hands in his pockets, noticing a boy with a dog on a red leash pass by. He saw the boy's ponytail and spoke out.

"Shishido, Ryou?"

The boy stopped and turned to him with a glare already plastered on his face. Yuuta was taken aback by the look he got.

"What do you want?"

Yuuta shook his head,"Nothing, but man, she was right."

Shishido growled inside of his head and turned back around, walking Kyon past the Ryuuka residence.

* * *

Yuuta is one of my other favorites. He and Shishido are alike, especially in the looks department. I finally found a bunch of people who agree with me. They're like twins XDD.

Simone is gettiong quite popular isn't she? Naah. Of course not.

I didn't feel the need to put in many author note thingies this time. I don't know why, must just me what I was thinking. I may or may not put out another chapter tomorrow. I'm thinking about one everyday or every other day. It depends on how things go and are at that moment. I can't wait to get to this part I want to write X3. I'm ahead of myself.

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ**[I love those two teams the most too! :D I like Yuuta and maybe some Tezuka on the side with 'em though. Ahahaha.]  
**Michiko-Chii**  
**tazdevil**  
**Shadowsnow**  
**yuukiyume**

~[Awesome] Tai.


	15. The Once Determined,Confident

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 15: The Once Determined/Confident

* * *

I yawned loudly as I sat in the chair I had been given in the Cultural Committee. I had to stay back and sign a bunch of things since I had ended up being absent for one of the meetings. I finished my last signature on the last paper and dropped my head onto the wooden desk. It was so cool and comforting, I just want to fall asleep right here.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up again, deciding not to rest my eyes. I needed to get home to eat with my dad and grandfather. It had been roughly two weeks since my brother had visited and about five days since the younger boy Yuuta had come to talk to me.[Saturday, June 9th]

I picked up my bag and small book, leaving the stack of papers on the desk. I turned the light off to the room and closed the door, making it my mission to not fall asleep while walking.

* * *

Pick Pock Pick Pock Pack

I stopped walking when I heard the sound of Tennis. I looked up to see that it was around six if I estimated. Practice couldn't still be going on. I walked towards where the pocking was coming from and peeked out from behind a bush.

I saw that is was Shishido and Choutarou playing a match or something. It was interesting to watch. Each of the moves they made seemed intricate and well thought out like they had been doing this for the past week or two. I watched the ball fly past Choutarou's racket and hit the ground. The silver haired boy congratulated his senpai.

I walked away from the court and hurried to the gates. My curiousity could wait until tomorrow, I would just ask Choutaru what was up.

* * *

"Psst, Choutarou, psst." I whispered, trying to get Choutarou's attention as he walked down the hall to the cafeteria to eat with Shishido. I growled inwardly and grabbed his shoulder.

He jumped and turned to see me,"What is it Ryuuka-san?"

I grabbed him arm and made him follow me down the hall and next to the staircase. I looked up and him with stern eyes,"What were you and Shishido doing out on the courts last night?"

Choutarou jumped sightly and looked around, worried that someone might hear this,"Promise not to tell anyone."

I nodded, it wasn't like anyone I told would tell anyway.

"Well, I'm helping Shishido-san train so that he can challenge one of the now regulars. He really wants his spot back, he's determined to do anything to get it back."

My eyes slightly widened.

_"You lost a match against Gawa-san, and it looked like the match had been pretty one-sided," Yuuta flinched at the comment,"but you still had that goal in your eyes. You weren't about to let that one match stop you from doing what you've been wanting to for so -sa-"_

_"Don't call me by that." Yuuta said to me sternly. I only nodded and went on._

_"Yuuta-san, that is where you and Shishido stopped being similar. You haven't given up on your dream. The once confident Shishido has."_

Had I been wrong about Shishido? Did he still have that determination even when I had called him pretty much spineless?

I scrunched my face up in thought and looked up to Choutarou,"You can go now, Ootori-san. Thanks for telling me."

The silver-haired kouhai nodded and began to got to meet his friend.

"Oh, and tell Kishi-chan that I say hi."

He nodded again and quickened his pace[1]. I knew that Kishi-chan had been eating with Choutarou ever since they had been paired for a music project. She had been so thrilled about it. I turned to the staircase to see Hiyoshi with his elbow on his knee, looking completely bored out of his mind.

I snorted and walked up to the steps, plopping on the top one next to him. I took out my bento and opened it up,"You want some shellfish?"

He looked at it and complied. I snickered and put my arm around his shoulder,"Don't worry Hiyoshi-kouhai, you'll be the only kouhai to me."

* * *

"Ryuuka-san."

I stopped and looked back to see Taki. I nodded for him to continue quickly so that I wouldn't be late for Free Period.

"I wanted to apologize for Kotone-chan making you think that you had to sign all of those papers last night."

My palm slammed into my face as I inwardly groaned, of course. I should have figured that no one would make someone do all of that paperwork in one night.

"Thanks for telling me this now, Taki-san."

"Ah, no problem."

I sighed and hurried my way to the library to meet up with my two friends for a period of nothing.

* * *

I fished around in my bag for something important as I came out of the bathroom. I did my best to do this at the odd angle my body was at. When I finally grabbed what I wanted I stood up straight and popped my aching back.

I opened the doors out the backside of the school and made my way to the tennis courts. There were girls laughing and screaming for attention from many of the regulars. I was very glad that when I had stormed onto the courts earlier this year that there hadn't been so many of them. I walked around the group and found who I was looking for.

* * *

"Nah, Hiyoshi-kouhai!"

Shishido looked up from his stretching to see a certain neighbor of his walk near the group he was in. She walked straight up to a certain kouhai that she had claimed.

"Ryuuka-chan?"

The girl laughed and held out two nice looking chopsticks. They must have been for something fancy,"You left your chopsticks on my bento after lunch. I know that these are important to you, oh and don't worry- I washed it off with one of your towelette things."

Her kouhai took them from her and nodded his head,"Arigatou."

Shishido could feel a bit of hisself become angry again at the two. Ryuuka was fixing Hiyoshi's collar, slightly against his will, and trying to tell him something.

* * *

I folded Hiyoshi's collar again and opened my mouth to tell him something when a rude voice stopped me.

"Ore-sama does not remember letting you on the courts."

I sighed and looked to the once Englishman,"I was returning something to my Kouhai."

His eyebrows raised at this,"Kouhai? How can you be teaching him anything when you yourself don't play tennis?"

I snorted and patted down part of Hiyoshi's hair,"I never said that I was teaching him tennis. I'm just guiding him through somewhat normalcy, great food, and middle school."

I fixed my bag and waved goodbye to my friend,"See ya tomorrow Hiyoshi-kouhai."

As I left the court I looked to my left and gave Shishido a look of curiousity and slight worry. I may not have taken much notice before, but I was starting to notice that he had a lot more cuts lately.

* * *

[1] Is that embarrassment I see, Choutarou?

I liked this chapter for just how it's set up. I need to return to my Summer Assignment though, so hope you enjoyed this chapter :P

I apologize if I don't get some chapters out for anything tomorrow, I'm swamped with passport documents and three chapters a day from my book. Blah DX.

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ:** [I think he's amazingly cute too when he's so young :3. Eiji has my favorite facial expressions in the show xD. Thanks for your support by the way! :DDD!]  
**Michiko-Chii  
****tazdevil  
****Shadowsnow  
****yuukiyume**

~Tai.


	16. The Reach with Worry

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 16: The Reach with Worry

* * *

I yawned loudly in English Conversation. The week had been going by quickly, it had only been Tuesday about three seconds ago and it was suddenly Friday[June 15th]. Tomorrow would be the usual short day and than a meeting with the Cultural Committee.

I looked to the boy in front of me and watched as he erased something on his homework. The homework wasn't for this class though. I took a deep breath and decided to try my idea out.

"What subject is that?"

Shishido froze in his movements for a moment and gave me a quick glance to make sure that I had actually asked him something. I rose my eyebrows, trying to get it out of him.

"Geometry."

I grimaced and twisted a piece of my hair, thinking that maybe I could help him. I thought about it for a moment and decided that it was probably easier than trigonometry. I leaned forward and looked down at his paper,"Um, anyway I can help?"

* * *

What is she doing?

That was what was going through Shishido's mind when Ryuuka leaned forward to help him with his geometry. She had been acting nicer to him the past few days, and that was wierd enough. He looked up to see her face and saw that she wasn't wearing her long sleeve blue shirt and that her first two buttons were undone. He felt his face heat up quickly and he looked back down to his paper. He put his pencil end on number two to avoid having to look at her.

"Oh, doesn't this have to do with the rising of it?"

He shrugged lightly and quickly glanced at her face. She hadn't seemed to notice that he just got a face full of clevage. Shishido decided that it would be safe to not tell her[1].

* * *

"Oh, you need to put this on the left side of the equation, because with the way you have it now it doesn't make sense." I said to the long-haired boy that I felt didn't deserve all of the anger I had thrown at him. Well, he deserved some of it.

He nodded and fixed his mistake. I sat back down in my seat and pushed my hair from my face.

"...Thanks."

My caramel eyes widened slightly as I looked over to Shishido. Of course, he was busy doing something else. I smirked to myself and opened up my latest English Novel[2].

* * *

"Ne, Nerd-san- why do we have to do this report?"

I put my hands behind my head as the blue-haired tensai and I walked down the hall to the computer lab. Oshitari had been eyeing me more today and it was creepy, but I was going to ignore that.

"We need to make a powerpoint about our given chapter for Kira-sensei, you know that."

I scoffed at the boy and swung the door to the computer lab open. I didn't really care what Kira-sensei wanted, she was still gonna be a humongous pain. I slid a chair out for myself and turned on the computer angrily. I felt warm breath touch my ear in a whisper.

"Don't be so rough now, Simone-chan[3]."

I jumped back from the boy and gave him a look of disgust,"Eh?"

He turned from me and began to type on the computer, taking over my part of the assignment. I just stared at the screen, leaning my cheek on my palm in boredom, this assignment sucked.

* * *

"Ah, Gawa-san! Rubber Band!" I shouted as I ran out of the building. The two hadn't been in the library so I guessed that they were already outside. My suspicions were true and I ran up to the orange haired Jirou.

I stopped by his sleeping figure and looked up the tree,"Rubber Band, what are you doing up there?"

Mukahi moved his magenta-colored hair and smirked at me,"Well, I was just climbing a tree, but now I'm enjoying the view."

"What view?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow as he took a camera out of his back pocket.

I heard a yawn and looked down to Jirou,"Ah, hello Gawa-san."

The boy rubbed his eyes and yawned, standing up to greet me. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped immeaditely when he got a good look at me. I put my hands on my hip and asked him,"What?"

He looked away and pointed down slightly,"You're top buttons are wide open[4]..."

I looked at what he meant and felt my face cover with red heat from embarrassment.

_"I'll have to take your move into consideration, Simone-chan." Oshitari whispered into my ear before he left the computer lab to head to his last period. Well, I didn't get it._

I began to button up my shirt until I heard a voice from above,"Ne, nice clevage... Oh! I think it's purple!"

My face changed from red with embarrassment to red with anger at the bouncing classmate of mine. I jumped up to grab his leg, but he jumped from the branch and began to sprint away. I growled and chased after him, knowing that I probably wouldn't catch him.

Mukahi lifted up the camera that still had a photo of my chest on it,"Oi, Jirou-san. You wanna see it?"

The sleepy boy put a hand on his chin,"I don't know if I want to see a picture of Ryuuka-chan's chest."

I growled and threw a book from my bag at the magenta-haired freak,"Delete that now!"

He leaned forward and gripped his head,"Man, you seem to always hit my head! How is that?"

I gripped his shirt sleeve and glared at him,"Delete it."

He lifted the camera to my face and pressed the delete button and than chose yes. I smiled and let him go, triumphant.

"Good."

I turned around and walked back to pick up the book I had thrown at him. I brushed the cover off to see that it was my english book. I paused while putting it in my bag and felt my face heat up.

"What's the matter, Ryuuka-chan?"

I looked up to Jirou and shook my head,"N-Nothing."

"You stuttered!" Mukahi yelled out the obvious and bounced over to find out what was going on.

I turned away from the two and began to march into the school to find the library. I wasn't able to get even three steps before Mukahi ran with my arm to the courtyard benches.

"What is it~?" He asked, singing the question to me. I looked away and pursed my lips.

"What happened in English?"

I closed my eyes and sighed, knowing the wasn't going to go away.

"I bent over my desk to help someone and I know now that they saw my chest, all of it."

Mukahi's eyes widened with laughter at my face, which was slowly heating again. He hooted with laughter for a moment before asking me,"Who was the lucky guy?"

I shook my head,"Well, I don't want to say."

"Come on."

Ding Ding Ding.

"Nope!" I yelled and ran away from him, hurrying for the gates of Hyotei so that Mukahi couldn't follow.

* * *

[1] Smart idea, Shishido, smart idea XD.

[2] She's happy to help and get a thanks. Woo~

[3] If you understand what he means by that... I don't know what to say. Now that I think about it, it's quite nasty.

[4] Jirou is the only boy to tell her XD. And now that I think about it no one else did- but let's just say the whole top "unbuttoned" at lunch somehow so it only started showing in English Conversation(which is after lunch).

All boy's are secret perverts. I believe that Mukahi is a big one, but they just don't show that in the anime. I'm not judging him, but it's funny. Oshitari may come off as a stalker, but he does in a lot of fanfictions not about him, haha.

Reviews and the such are appreciated.

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ:** [Hiyoshi made me laugh as a kid. Haha, I like these names you give me. Haha, that was the sole purpose of that moment, just to embarrass Hiyoshi XDD.]  
**Michiko-Chii**  
**tazdevil**  
**Shadowsnow**  
**yuukiyume**  
**TotalJONASFan07: **[Haha, I'm glad that you find it as amazing as I do. Haha :P]  
**TotalPrinceofTennisFan07: **[Yes, that is the way of Shishido XDD.]  
**CemeteryRain: **[*le gasp* Thank you, the hints of them shall show later XD.]  
**applegreentea**

~[Awesome/Amazing] Tai.


	17. Blue

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 17: Blue

* * *

Mukahi Gakuto hopped down the hall on one of his bathroom breaks. Today he was taking a detour to peek in on a certain someone's class. His dark blue eyes searched for room 2-G along each side of the hallway.

He quickly hurried to the door of the said room when he found it. This was his chance to find out who had seen Ryuuka's chest close up. He slowly peeked through the window and his eyes widened slowly at this discovery.

* * *

I sighed from my novel and turned the page. Penny-sensei was drabbling on about something with another student so there was time to read. I glanced up from her book to look at my long-haired partner.

Shishido was looking past me with a glare on his face. I heard him mumble a few words. I turned to see what he was looking at and saw Mukahi looking in the door's window. I quickly swung myself back around and felt my face heat up, not good. Not good!

"Why's your face all red?" The girl next to me asked me. Of course, you don't speak to me at all and than just when I want to be ignored you talk to me.

"Uh, n-no reas-son."

I turned back to Shishido and was glad to see that he wasn't looking to me and I buried my face into my novel. I wouldn't survive if he saw my face this color.

* * *

"Ne, Hiyoshi-kouhai?"

The caramel-haired boy looked to me, wanting to know what was wrong with me. I pointed my chopsticks up in thought, the sushi in it firmly. I popped it into my mouth after a moment and spoke.

"You know those stories about enemies becoming friends?"

He nodded his head, he probably heard those things from his cousins or mother. I tossed another piece of sushi into my mouth.

"Is that too overrated? Do you think it could happen in real life? Do you think it could end in a relationship?"

The boy stared at me for a moment. The air was thicker than normal and I could tell from the tint of pink on his cheeks that he didn't want to talk about this anymore.

I sighed and put my arm over his shoulder and pulled him closer,"Nevermind about it. But you remember- if there's ever a girl out there that you like, you come to me."

* * *

I quickly walked down the halls and away from Kira-sensei's Trigonometry class. I had been called for an important meeting with the Cultural Committee and I was glad to not only be skipping out on the end of math, but be able to not confront Mukahi. It had been bothering me for the past while. I really didn't want to deal with it.

"Ah, Ryuuka-senpai."

I turned my attention to the blonde girl Kotone. She handed me a large stack of folders in the room. I noticed that the room was empty except for the two of us.

"I need you to look these over. I know that your English is very good and a lot of the forms are in English."

As quickly as she gave me them, she was out. I grumbled,"Stupid Mimori Kotone Kouhai buttface."

I fell back into my seat and opened the first folder to read the forms.

* * *

I closed the final, green folder. There had been close to no mistakes and now there was nothing left to do. I glanced up to the clock on the wall and spotted the time. I still had twenty-three minutes left of Free Period.

I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes, leaning back in the chair slightly. I was not going to face Mukahi. I'll stay here in the committee roo-

"You're Simone, right?"

I felt my foot slip from keeping the chair balanced and I went flying backwards. I hit the ground and gripped my head in pain.

"Ah, blue, nice."

I felt my face flare up in embarrassment and I fixed myself and stood up. I opened my eyes to see a girl a little bit shorter than me. She had brown hair that reached just to her clevage and dark blue eyes that reminded me of a friend that I was avoiding. She looked me over and smirked, licking her lips.

"You look much better than in the picture."

"Wh-What?"

She looked into my eyes and pulled out a photo, the one that Mukahi had gotten. It clearly showed my chest from the angle. It was the first time I got a close look at it. Wait, how did she get a photo he deleted?

"You're much hotter in person."

I scrunched up my forehead and stared at her with an indescribable look. I had no idea what to say to this girl. Than I noticed, I could see clear down to her chest. I diverted my eyes and heard her snicker.

"I'll see you another time, Sen-pai."

I felt my skin tingle with confusion as she traced a finger under my chin before strolling to the door. I think I stood there for another fifteen minutes. When the bell rang I just picked up my bag and beelined it for the gates, I had no intention of staying on school grounds any longer.

* * *

"Ah! Gakuto!"

The bouncing magenta-haired boy stopped and looked to his right. He smiled widely and jumped over to the girl that called him.

"Yes, Masawa?"

"Here's that picture back, I got a copy for myself."

Mukahi took the photo from the brown-haired second year and looked from it to her. He knew that she would do something like that.

* * *

No notes today! This chapter is quite short, but eh. It's finally moving a long a lot better than it had been before XD.

So, this Masawa girl has been introduced... Sort of. Yes, she is into girls. She's my comic relief character :3

...And how did she get that picture? XD, not even I understand how Mukahi kept it yet.

Also, the blue is reference to Simone's undies, which Masawa says are nice XDDD. I find it funny :P

I hope that I can get the next chapter out on the day I have posted on my profile. Wish me luck!

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ: **[Woo~! I'm glad you enjoyed that part as much as I did XD. I used a thesaurus yesterday. Yes, I have seen it and Kaidoh has always been cute to me. He was the first one I ever liked XDDD.]  
**Michiko-Chii  
****tazdevil  
****Shadowsnow  
****yuukiyume  
****TotalJONASFan07  
****TotalPrinceofTennisFan07  
****CemeteryRain  
****applegreentea  
****PurePrincess  
****Kris 77  
****Princess Alice Rose  
****makoko: **[Why thank you! I am glad that you enjoy it! :D]

~[The Majestic] Tai (I just finished watching Spirit... 3-7 times... XDDD.)


	18. Love's Labour's Lost

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 18: Love's Labours Lost

* * *

"Hey, long-haired senpai!"

Shishido stopped his practice swinging and turned to look at the familiar voice. He narrowed his brown eyes when he spotted the girl that had smacked him in the face with a door. She continued marching up to him.

"How do you get your hair that nice?"

He growled and felt his eye twitch,"Go away."

The girl laughed and put her hand over her mouth,"Don't worry, Shishi-baka. I don't like guys. I've already got a girl in mind for me."

The boy gaped at the younger girl. He, obviously, didn't want to know that piece of information. He growled again and made a fist,"Don't call me that!"

He didn't even question how she knew his name. It was already enough that she was mocking him. Literally.

The girl made a fist to copy him and deepened her voice,"Don't call me that!"

He felt his eye twitch. There was one word to describe this girl and it was

* * *

"Annoying! This is so annoying!" I exclaimed at the sight of my English project sheet.

"What are you yelling about?"

I glared at Shishido, not feeling the normal sympathy I would for him since he had a new bandage under his sleeve. I shoved the packet of paper into his face and he roughly took it. He brown eyes read it over and narrowed in anger. He was just as angry as I was, but I was sure it was for a different reason.

"We have to make a skit about this?"

Yea, I was completely right. I put my hand on the desk from my side and leaned forward a bit, my hair spilling over my shoulders.

"Hey, that's not the bad part. We have to do this over Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost... I can feel myself dying at the thought of doing anything with this comedy."

Shishido dropped the paper on the desk and huffed back in his seat. He didn't want to respond to my, um, odd outburst of sorts. I wouldn't have known how to respond to it either if I was on his level of intelligence.

"Now, now. This will be a fun activity. Just let your feelings flow, like Berowne and the others eventually had."

I huffed and slumped into the seat. Penny-sensei was making a reference the comedy I dreaded. This was going to be awful. I picked up the wrinkled packet and search for the due date. _June 26th._[1]

I sent my head into my hands,"When's a good time to work on this for you?"

"What, can't think for yourself?"

The tone sounded, sort of confusing me until I remembered that we had spent most of the class watching a movie. I growled and shot up,"Fine! Expect me to come over when I feel like it!"

* * *

"So, when does this need to be done by?" I asked Kotone as she picked up her things from the table.

"By our next meeting on Saturday, we won't be meeting this Sunday."

I nodded to her stoicism and watched as she left. Once she had I picked up my own bag. The clock read that it was about four in the afternoon. I picked up my gray jacket and walked out the side door, I decided that today I was going to watch.

By watch I mean that I was going to make sure that Shishido's "training" was going well. I had been worried about him a bit more lately even though I never really found a complete reason to be worried.

I kneeled behind one of the bushes away from the court they were on and peeked through a small hole in the bushes. I really hoped that I wouldn't be spotted.

* * *

"Shishido-san, maybe we should stop for today."

Choutarou said to his senpai. He could tell that the everyday training was wearing him out.

"No!"

The silver haired boy almost cringed at the tone, but he had learned to no longer do that when Shishido yelled. He nodded and got into a stance to give out his Scud Serve.

* * *

My caramel eyes widened substantially as I held back a gasp. The tennis ball had been a blur and it had collided with Shishido. I watched as he kept his ground. He faltered only a bit. It was shocking to me. Why would he put himself up to this kind of abuse?

"Serve again, my reflexes need to be worked on."

The second year nodded his head. I watched him serve again, but the ball once again collided with Shishido. He growled to himself and changed his stance. I wanted to see what would happen to him next, but I didn't know if I could continue being so quiet.

I scooted back and made my way back to the committee room. I wanted to turn the lights off and leave out the other door to avoid "suspicion".

* * *

"Something's bothering you kodomo."

I spun the orange on the counter. I had been home for thirty minutes after leaving the school. My father was still at the school for some meeting work and would go to the store afterwards so it would be a while before he would be home.

"I'm not a child Sofu."

My grandfather walked in front of me. He set his dark brown caramels on me and smiled knowingly,"So, something it wrong."

I chuckled at him and stopped the orange from spinning,"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I jumped off of the bar stool and ran up the stairs to lay on my bed and think of an idea to quickly get rid of this project for English.

_What could we do? I mean, it would be nearly impossible to do this skit with Shishido not understanding a simple sentence and with me hating this play. Maybe... Eh, who am I kidding? Maybe we could just pick out a meaningless scene._

I stood up on my bed and started to act like I was a royal king,"My servant!"

I quickly sent myself to the ground of my room and bowed,"Yes, my Lord?"

I once again stood on the bed and folded my arms behind my back, beginning to pace back and forth,"Well, I seem to have a dilemma. I must find out what my sons have been doing all of this time. Are they fraternizing with older women? Oh, the thought!" I thrust my fist into the air,"I demand to know what is going on!"

Throwing myself onto the ground I picked up one of the extra curtain rods,"Is there anything I can do my lord or will that be it?"

I tossed the pole down and jumped onto the bed,"No, there is nothing you can do. Wait... I have been craving some cooki-EEAA!"

I felt my foot slip over Salmon and I was sent to the floor. I gripped my head and cursed having an American bed. I should have gone with the whole "embracing my Japanese heritage" thing when I was younger- I would have saved myself the pain of falling off of the unstable mattress.

"Meow."

I looked up from my spot on the floor to see Salmon rubbing herself on my chest. I smiled and scratched behind her ear. I looked back up to the white ceiling and sighed,"This is gonna be difficult."

* * *

[1] The date in the story at the moment would be June 19th, so a week from this day would be when their project is due. I personally find Love's Labours Lost sort of funny, but it kind of drags on.

I apologize a million times for my slacking! I have pushed this site aside for the past 2-3 months for different reasons. I'm behind in school because I just stopped going for a few days and now I need to try and finish up my class work. I will be updating slowly in the next week, but I will pick it back up over Thanksgiving Break! :'D

Also, this chapter may have seemed like bits and pieces. It sort of was ._.

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ: **[Haha. Yea it is that movie. I love it so much. Mainly so I can sing along with all of the songs XDDD.]

**Michiko-Chii**

**tazdevil**

**Shadowsnow**

**yuukiyume**

**TotalJONASFan07**

**TotalPrinceofTennisFan07: **[You're welcome XD.]

**CemeteryRain**

**applegreentea**

**PurePrincess**

**Kris 77**

**Princess Alice Rose**

**makoko**

**roonaty**

**CherriAme**

**KonekoKallen: **[Why thank you so much! I loved your review. It made me laugh. That seems plausible actually.]

**Kuma the wolf alchemist**

**strawbewii**

**chivini**

**WolfeSaysMeow**

**Lone Panda**

**Kuro Neko to Kuro Bara**

**.Uchiha**

**PurePrincess**

**whitewhite**

~[The Procrastinator] Tai


	19. Tickle Your Catastrophe

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 19: Act IV, Scene I. Take 1... Take 2...

* * *

_**Take 1**_

I sighed angrily and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was Saturday, June 21st. Shishido had avoided me the day before, but today he would not be so lucky. I waited outside of the boy's locker room, having gotten permission to leave Jin-sensei's class early. I had not gotten the chance to talk to my partner yesterday seeing as he purposefully ignored me in English, not that I cared. I had been too involvd in trying to find a scene that would work that I did not detest like all of the others.

_Ding Ding_

I positioned myself so that he could not make a quick get away if he saw me first. I noticed a bit of magenta hair and dove away from it. The last thing I neede was being seen my Gakuto and being endlessly made fun of or something. I waited until I saw the ponytail if my partner and I made the reach for his bag. The second I had a hand on it I tried pulling him. He stopped and gave me an incredulous look,"What are you doing, Ryuuka?"

"We're going to get this project done with!"

I tried my best to pull, but I am going to guess he put on about 40 pounds or something. I strained to keep it up when he started to walk,"Wow, stop!"

"I have practice today."

I let go of his bag and huffed, he wanted to do this the hard way than? I waited until the time was right, just before he left the school building, and I ran full speed at him. I tackled him down, which I was sort of surprised I had, and his bag fell to the floor. I straddled his back and leaned forward,"Can we work on the project now?"

Shishido had just finished an aggrivating forty-five minutes fighting to keep Makuhi away from him all class. It was a lot more difficult than he had thought it would be and it left him a bit tired. He needed to finish up his last bits of training with Choutarou since the mid-year regular tryouts would be at the end of the month. The last thing he wanted to think about was some project.

When he left the boy's locker room he felt a small tug on his bag. He glanced back to see a familiar blonde trying her very best to pull him along. He gave her a not very amused look,"What are you doing, Ryuuka?"

"We're getting this project done with!"

He watched her try to pull him along from his bag, it was sort of pathetic actually. He closed his eyes in annoyance and turned from her, pulling her along and ignoring her protests,"I have practice today."

Shishido felt the resistance on his bag leave and he felt sort of triumphant. Of course, even though he and the blonde had had that "fight" of theirs- he still had those stupid feelings that people would call a crush. He shook his head of the stupid idea and noticed that he was almost to the end of the hall. Finally, he could get some practice done.

"Oof!" The ponytailed boy grunted as he collided with the floor, his bag next to him and the weight of a girl on top of him. He glared furiously at the floor as she adjusted herself on his lower back.

He felt her breath on his ear and he couldn't help but blush as a reflex. He closed his eyes tightly as her voice flooded in through his ear,"Can we work on the project now?"

The boy took a moment to fix himself the best he could before responding, almost stuttering a bit from the contact he was not liking,"Get off, Ryuuka."

She pulled herself from his ear and shifted again,"No! Not until you get off that idea about you practicing today!"

Shishdo really did not have a choice now that he thought about it. He could _sit_ **lay** here and argue with the neighbor of his or he could try and push her off and make a run for it. Either way there would be another commotion going on, so he really did not have a choice. He waited a moment before giving in to the girl on his back,"Fine, Ryuuka. We can do that stupid project. _**Only**_ today."

I smirked to myself and got off of Ryou's back, hurriedly grabbing his bag to make sure he did not try to run away. I glanced around us to see Sakuji-sensei down the hallway glaring at us. I dropped my gaze back to the boy next to me. I handed him his bag, but kept a firm grip on the back of it.

"Let go of my bag, Ryuuka."

I snorted,"No way- not until we get to my house."

* * *

"Okay, this is what we need to memorize."

I sat down on the couch, now in some jeans and a tee, with my partner next to me. He picked up the page that had highlighted pieces,"Who's Holofernes?"

I looked down at his page and read one of the lines,"Oh, he's a school master[1]. In here," I pointed to one of his lines,"he's critiquing the poetry of this love letter thing."

He deadpanned at me,"You want me to critique poetry?"

I snorted and nearly fell over with how loud I was laughing on this inside,"Of course not- just read the lines. I know you could never really critique poetry."

It was silent for a few moments, the boy glaring at me. I was sure that a part of my body was about to burst into flames because of his intensity. I looked down to my sheet and the extra ones and fingered through them,"Um, we need to get someone to read the lines for Clown Costard and Sir Nathaniel...Oh, and we need to make something to be Dull."

"Dull?"

"He doesn't speak, but you talk to him at one point."

It was quiet again, not really the best atmosphere for either of us. I looked down at the lines and began to speak,"_God give you good morrow, Master Person_."

He looked at me with complete confusion at this. I sighed and pointed to his sheet,"Say your line back at me."

"_Master Person, qu-kwa-s_"

"No."

He looked at me, not even wanting to try.

* * *

The few hours we spent were on trying to pronunciate the lines that Shishido had. As we went through them I felt sort of bad since some of the lines were not even in English. Though, by the end of it we had given up and were watching some anime on the TV. It was nice to not be yelling at eachother, but I would have figured he would leave the second we seemed to be done.

"Meoouw."

I looked down to see Salmon jumping from my lap and onto Shishido's. He cringed back a bit as the feline rubbed itself onto his chest and than made a pallet in his lap. I chuckled at him, it was a pretty funny sight.

"What's this play about anyways?"

"Hm?" I had to take a moment to register the question, but a loud 'HI-YA!' from the TV snapped me out of my thoughts and I muted the kicking twelve year old. I took a moment to think before turning to my partner.

"Well, um, the king and his three lords swear to fasting and no 'contact' with women for three years. Costard and Jaquenetta- my character- are caught doing stuff, Costard gets a sentence. Don Armado falls in lost with Jaquenetta, Berowne loves Rosaline, and the King loves the Princess. The other guy falls in love, too, but whatever. Letters get switched and mixed up and people get confused, find about the breaking of that 'oath' thing. Oh! It's Dumaine that falls in love with Katherine. The four men go to court, 'date', their women, but the girls played a prank and disguised themselves or whatever. At the end the girls leave and everyone has to wait a year to see them again."

It was like someone had just made an awkward comment from how quiet the house was. Neither of us spoke, and by the look on Shishido's face I figured he was going to say something about how horrible the ending was.

"That sounds like a horrible romance comedy."

I took a moment to process his words before laughing loudly. I leaned over, clutching my stomach. It was as if he had seen the light as to why I hated the play so much, but I was even amazing myself with my laughing.

"When did you get home, Kodomo?"

I stopped laughing and notice my grandfather coming out of his room from downstairs. I was sort of perplexed as to why he was dressed so nicely,"What's going on, Sofu?"

He smiled at me with that old person all knowing one he has,"Tonight is the University's dinner."

I rose an eyebrow,"Wouldn't Jeram-ani's be a year from now? He hasn't graduated yet..."

He chuckled a bit and picked up his hat,"Your father is giving out those awards tonight to his students."

My eyes widened by a million and I turned to Shishido,"Eh, sorry- I need to get ready. We'll have to do this another time!"

I shot up and over to the stairs, trying to find the dress I was supposed to be wearing. I should have thought something was funny since my dad had not been home since I came from school. I slipped off my pants and shirt before remembering what Shishido and I had been doing. I quickly pulled the dress over my head and ran down the stairs. I picked up his packet and one of the extras before running out of my front door and down the road,"Shishido!"

He stopped and turned to me. My hair was a big mess and the dress was sort of lopsided from running down the sidewalk quickly. I shoved the papers at him,"Look over your lines, and give the other sheet to Elrin, maybe he could record Nathanial's lines."

He huffed and took the papers, turning back down the sidewalk. I felt my anger level rise, but I did not have the time to deal with him[2].

* * *

_**Take 2**_

It was early Sunday morning, the only day off from school that I would get this week. I knew very well that Shishido did not have tennis matches, or practice for that matter I was sure, so he would not mind me coming over. I walked up the steps to their small porch and knocked on their door. I thought about the very few times I had been inside of the Shishido household. It was a bit different from my own home since we had touched up the place with our American ideas.

The door opened and there stood Shishido's mother. I bowed quickly,"I'm here to work on the English project with Ryou-san."

She smiled widely to me and ushered me in,"Come in, come in. He's asleep upstairs, but I could make you some tea."

Before I could object to the gesture she was in the kitchen. I took a seat on the small bamboo bench on the one side of the "miniature table". It was not on the floor, but it was not very elevated. There was a bench on one side, two seats on the other side, and than one on each end. It was actually very nice. I looked around, spotting their living room. It actually was not as different from my own living room as I had remembered. The couch they had was lower to the ground than ours, but they had a side table, a "coffee" table and a large TV next to the wall[3].

I looked on the walls and spotted different pictures of the family, seeing the smiling faces of the four of them.

"Ohayo, Ryuuka-chan."

I jumped at the face that greeted mine so closely. It was Shishido, Elrin- Ryou's older brother. He was the same height as the last time I had seen him in that year, but his composure just screamed 'high schooler' to me. it definetaly screamed 'third year', too. I waved back to him and noticed that one of the seats at the table was filled. There was a book hiding the face, but I was figuring that it was Shishido's father. He was a school teacher from the elementary section, and he was very nice. The mother came back and poured me a cup of tea before fetching the other foods they had for breakfast. I must have come just as they were going to eat. I sort of felt like I was protruding.

"Ohoho, who's this young lady?"

I looked up to see the other seat on the end of the table become filled by an older woman. I was going to take a wild guess that this was the grandmother. Her gray hair was pinned up and she wore a sleeping outfit still.

"I'm Ryuuka, Simone. I live down the street."

She smiled slyly, something that I was now guessing all old people did, and motioned for Elrin and the mother to sit down,"Let's get this breakfast going- Simone's on a quest."

I felt my face heat up a bit as I took a small sip of the tea in front of me. I learned through the next twenty minutes that Shishido's father's name was Jiro[4], his mother's name was Satu[5], and his grandmother's name was Tanaka[6]. They all seemed a lot like a normal family. Well adjusted and happy, it made me sort of jealous I guess you could say. I did not have a sibling that was at home with me and our family's could almost be parallel if-

I shook my head a bit and finished up my cup of tea,"Is it alright if I go wake up Shishido-san? We really need to finish our project."

Jiro looked to Satu, as did Tanaka, and the mother nodded to me,"Of course."

I got up and began to make my way to the stairs, but Elrin stopped me,"Ryou gave me that script thing yesterday, I'll be that Nathaniel guy."

I smilled and nodded before hurrying up the stairs. I did not want to feel so anxious, but I could not wait to get this over with. I opened up the only closed door, I was taking a leap of guessing here. With the door open I let out a breath of relief, seeing the different things about tennis everywhere- it has to be Shishido's room.

I moved across the floor slowly, only stopping to look at the music selection he had- finding things that the both of us listened to. After finishing up my trek had ended at his bedside. I leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

"Shishido-san... It's time to get up."

Ryou felt his brain run at a million miles a second from the voice in his ear. He did not know if it was his mind or if it was real. He felt his body twitch as someone's hand touched his shoulder. A second later, plus a yelp, he landed on the floor, the blanket that had previously been on him covering the intruder to his room.

He saw the figure squirm and a muffled voice spoke,"Shi-baka! Get this blanket off of me!"

His face heated up a bit, his mind confused as to why the girl was in his room. He was so caught up his thoughts that he was almost unable to dodge the kick up that the girl was sending his way. He fell to the side and looked at her angrily,"What the hell, Ryuuka? !"

The blonde girl pushed the blanket off of her body to reveal the purple shirt and blue jeans she wore. Her caramel eyes glared at him with a fire of a thousand suns, as if it would be able to set his red shirt on fire,"What the hell? What the hell? ! I come in here to get you up for our project and you tackle me to the ground and nearly suffocate me with a blanket!"

The boy, who's hair was not yet in a ponytail, shot up and yelled back at her,"You came in here unnannounced a-"

"What? !" Simone yelled back, stepping up as well before continuing on.

* * *

Jiro and Satu both slowly ate their food as the commotion erupted upstairs. Tanaka laughed loudly and pushed her eldest grandson to the stairs,"Go see if their killing eachother yet."

Elrin shrunk back, not wanting to face the danger that awaited him, but was forced to by his grandmother. Satu looked to her mother, worried about her eldest son.

"Oh, he'll be fine. He's only got half a chicken in him."

Jiro felt his eye twitch at the jab the older woman made at him. He and the grandmother had never been on the best of terms, jabbing remarks back at one another. He had to admit that he could be a chicken at times but she was a,"Fussing old bag of fat."

The two stood up at the same time, both giving eachother looks of anger. Satu sighed, not even trying to stop the two as she cleaned up the table.

* * *

I panted like my partner did in front of me. Both of us had tired ourselves out from yelling at eachother for so long. I sat down on his bed, which was actually sort of comfy, and he reached for a hair tie. I noticed that he did not look half bad with his hair down, a bit better than what it looked like when it was up. I looked at his arms and noticed the bruises that I had not the day before. I twisted my mouth a bit.

He must have noticed, because he turned around and picked up some things before leaving his room. I was sort of confused. I would have just told him to leave if this had been my room and I wanted to change. I glanced down at his comforter and picked it up, tossing it back onto the bed. I sort of felt bad for "barging" in like that, but he could get over it. I sat back down and crossed my left leg under my right one, looking down at my packet.

The door opened back up a few minutes later, which made me think back to when I had walked in. I did not close it. I sighed and ignored the fact, it was probably nothing. Shishido sat at the farest end of the bed away from me and looked over,"Well, let's get this over with."

"_Ay, sir, from one Monsieur Berowne, one of the strange queen's lords._" I said, motioning to the crumbled piece of paper the both of us had dubbed the 'love letter to Rosaline'.

"_I will overglance the superscript: 'To the snow-white hand of the most beauteous Lady Rosaline.' I will look again on the intellect of the letter, for the nomination of the party._"

Shishido made the movement of writing and was about to speak again, but I stopped him.

"Hey, Shishido..."

He looked over to me with one eye open,"Hai, Ryuuka?"

I glanced away from him,"You've gotten a lot better at reading your lines."

I looked back up to him to see the back of his head,"Hn. Thanks, I guess."

I chuckled for a minute, hearing him a bit flustered,"Is the hard-faced Shishido flustered?"

He shot his gaze back to me and began to yell,"What? ! Why I oughta-"

"Oughta what?" I asked back, both of us in the other's face.

"Excuse me, you two- but I have..."

We both looked over to the open door where Elrin stood. We noticed that he had the recordings we needed and we both nodded.

"Just put it down there."

The second those words flew from our lips we turned back to eachother angrily,"You're copying me!"

"Am not!"

**"Stop that!"**

He grabbed my upper arm, causing me to do the same to him. I twisted it and he tried to shake me off. A few seconds later we were tangled, trying to keep the other from hitting ourselves. I glared at him, our faces not too far from eachother. His face was blank in less than a second. I ripped my arms back and pulled back, picking up my things,"You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!"

With that last reference to Shakespeare, I stomped out of his room, down the stairs, and out the door.

* * *

_**Take 3/Last Take**_

"Oi, Ryuuka-san."

I looked up from my food- and also my explaining to Hiyoshi-kouhai about the English project that I was detesting. I felt my eyes turn into slits, my blood starting to boil.

"What is it, Shishido-san?" My question, which probably sounded much more like a statement, set the atmosphere in the staircase.

"I need to talk to you."

I sighed and handed my kouhai the rest of my lunch,"You can have the rest of it, Yoshi-kouhai[7]."

He took it from me as I waved goodbye and followed my arrogant partner out of the staircase. Once we left, I put my hands onto my waist and leaned forward,"Whadda ya want Shishido?"

He looked at me straight in the eyes, forcing me to sort of notice the small cut I saw on the bottom of his neck. I moved myself back and listened to him.

"I wanted to tell you that I finished learning my lines and got some other people to say the other lines. It's all done."

A second later he was walking down the hallway, his hands in his pockets and his ponytail swishing with each step he took. I could not decide whether to thank him or let him walk away silently. By the time I was starting to make a decision he was out of my sight.

* * *

Okay, a few points I need to make. I was reviewing an episode of POT for a future chapter and realized something XD. I made the "two week training" with Choutarou... like... a month and some . I also stumbled across my timeline a bit. I apologize if it was noticeable or anything. But- right- as I was watching the episode I realized something very important, they all look like apes . In at least 17 twists of the angle I kept thinking "Ape". XDDD.

Also, this Chapter officially has my favorite title. The line she yelled at Shishido is a Shakespearean Insult thing :P

[1] I realized a bit after I wrote this that his dad is a school teacher XD. It's funny :3

[2] I just wanted to point out at this part that I originally was going to have them fighting and something happen(more embarrassing than anything), but it did not flow like I wanted it to.

[3] These are actually what some Japanese homes do look like. I actually looked it up because I know that Sanada and Tezuka have traditional homes and I wanted something normal/in between for Shishido.

[4] 'Second Male'

[5] 'Sugar'

[6] 'Dweller'

[7] I pushed this in there with very little explanation. The name thing will be talked abut later. It has to do (mainly) with something I wrote for a later "chapter/thing".

Responses:

Princess Alice Rose: Ne, ne- it's not the quantity, it's the quality(ya, riiight.) But thank you. I'm glad that you like the whole slow thing. I mainly do that because I got me some ideas. Frankly, they take forever to get to- but they there.(Horrbile Grammar DX)

Lone Panda: Yeah, I had some school stuff I had to get through- the first semester is always my most difficult one. Haha, yes- Misawa has a great purpose... Sort of. :D ..Yea, I didn't know if anyone would get that last chapter- I felt I needed a chick who likes girls in one of my story's, but of course she's related t Mukahi. XD.

Aikox3: Haha, I understand teh confusion. Obviously Shishi-chan is eventually gonna get some Ryuuka action. Tarou-kun will have some bits with Saiya. Hiyoshi's OC will come up later, I have his "story" thing typed up, but the story has yet to progress to when that takes place. Anyways, Danke :D

AznMistress: I think Simone is French, not sure. Mukahi is just a little flirt thing xD I dunno. I'm personally a Yuuta fan, but at times Shuusuke is better. Ms. Lesbo is actually my comic relief- she sort of plays a bigger role coming up. Yea, she wears shorts. Um, Shishi-chan's "pride and joy" will be gone soon :3. Thanks for all of your reviews!

ZzBlackKnightzZ: I hope Snuggi gets better from surgery. I love that 'get off of my back' song :DD. Um, not yet. I wanted to see Tangled when it first came out, but no one shared my enthusiasms.

**SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:!**

** I was looking through my stories, slowly writing in bits for each of them since I never have any time anymore (my apologies!) when I saw that I had 40 reviews on this. I was shocked and reread them all. I want to thank all of you. You all really do rock. The story from about 2 chapters- maybe another one- from now is when it will finally start to pick up a bit quicker. Truthfully, I did not think that I would have made it this far since before I had no idea what I would be putting in the middle of everything.**

**Thanks again! :3 3**

**~ [The Grateful] Tai.**


	20. Detention Remix

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 20: Detention Remix

* * *

I sighed, carrying a heavy , large stack of books to the extra classroom down the hall from Kira-sensei's room. I have no idea why she chose me, but I was beginning to think it was because she wanted to break my bones from the weight I was holding. I spotted the door I was looking for not too far from me now and quickly pulled it open more, the door was already open about two inches, and hurried in. Though, I was abruptly stopped by someone's body and the books collided with the floor. I blankly looked at the boy who had been in my way.

He looked very familiar I must say. His black hair was styled up and his wild hazels looked at me with a bit of shock.

_ I crumpled the note growling, right before I realized what the boy behind me was looking at. I turned back to him with a blush on my face,"Were you looking at my butt?"_

My eyes fell into a glare and the boy shrunk back, remembering the last and only time we had met. I stomped a foot down, pointing at the books,"What's the big idea with getting in my way?"

He put his hands up in defense,"Eah! I don't know what you mean!"

I stepped forward, anger resonating off of me,"You were standing in my direct-"

A wolf whistle stopped me from yelling at the boy. I dreaded to turn since the whistle was very familiar to my ears, but there was no other choice for me when the owner popped up in front of my face. It was the brown headed Masawa. I pulled back, my face draining of any color that it would have had otherwise. She stepped closer, tracing her fingers up my arm.

"If it isn't Simone-chan~. I was wondering when we would see eachother again."

I stepped back again, but slipped on the binding of a book, sending my foot right into the boy in front of me's leg and causing him to fall onto me, slamming into my chest. I watched in horror as he looked up, equally embarrassed.

"Hey! Off my woman!"

I felt the boy being tugged up, but the three of us stopped when the door opened. I pulled my head back to see Sakuji-sensei. Oh crap.

* * *

I groaned into the desk I sat at in detention. Thanks to the "fraternizing" I was doing with Satou- the boy- and Misawa I was in major trouble. Five days of detention for me. I lifted my head up and glared at the girl with hatred. This was her fault after all, and since our principal did not favor any of us exactly well we were all sentenced to this dreaded place.

"Um, I'm Miyauchi, Satou. I'm a third year like you. Gomen about this."

I shook my head at the politer one,"Iie, don't worry. It's her fault. I'm Ryuuka, Simone by the way."

He nodded back and smiled, shaking the hand I was offering. He was not that bad of a guy after all I guess. Now, this Misawa on the other hand...

I heard her stretching loudly and turned to see her no longer in her uniform top, but in a tank top. I shook my head, deciding to ignore the girl's oddness. I sighed and decided to give getting to know her a shot.

"You have any siblings?"

She smirked and nodded,"Yup, you know him, too."

I felt my mind propel itself into the land of 'oh crap' when her eyes sparkled. I was dreading the answer I was about to recieve.

"Mukahi, Gakuto is my cousin, haha."

* * *

I quickly walked down the hall, meaning to find Mimori since I had extra things to talk to her about. This Committee business was not difficult, but with all of the translating crap she was throwing at me I could die. I was about to turn towards the building with our clubroom when a tennis ball came flying at me. I shriekd as it hit my shoulder, pushing my back. I clutched my now aching muscles, wanting to shout at somebody.

"I'll get it Choutarou."

I froze, mind racing. Without a second thought I ran into the forested area to hide from the oncoming Shishido. I watched him stop above the tennis ball, pick it up, look around, and walk back to the court he was practicing on. I let out a relieving sigh and crawled over to the bushed next to the court. Peeking through, I watched as the two hit the ball back and forth. A moment later Ootori missed the tennis ball by a hare, congratulating Shishido.

I watched as the silver haired kouhai picked up the tennis ball slowly, ready to serve. My eyes widened and my breathing hitched since the last time I saw this Shishido nearly got his arm ripped off, plus that nasty bruise. I flinched back as he hit the ball with his racket, but smirked widely ashe returned the shot.

"Yes."

The two stopped and I smacked my hand over my mouth, feeling stupid for whispering that. I began to back up and quickly hurried out of the bushes and out of sight as the angrier of the two began to shout for whoever was there to come out.

_Peeu!_

I jumped out of the way of the soaring tennis ball, this time seeming to expect it. I glared at it, hearing Ootori coming to get it this time. He saw me and was about to open his mouth to ask what I was doing there, but I stopped him quickly with a finger over my lips. He nodded back to me and took the tennis ball I handed him. Once he was back by the court I picked the leaf from the bush out of my hair, sighed, and began my walk home- knowing that he knew I was watching them.

* * *

This one was shorter, but the next chapter is one of the big ones! :DDD It should be out by the end of this week, but my words are never too good to follow, aha.

**Responses:**

ZzBlack NightzZ: Why thank ya. :3

yumcha-girl: Thank you. This chapter was more of my filler, but there will be more!

AznMistress: I was just thinking about Yuuta when I wrote this. He will return XDD.

leogirl321: I am glad to know that she makes you laugh.

~ [The Swamped] Tai.


	21. DRAWMATHICK

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 21: DRAW-MATH-ICK

* * *

Hiyoshi stared at me intently as I walked up to him. It must have been the dress I was wearing that was not school dress code. I had decided to change into my outfit for our skit and it was not that bad, right? I held up the bento of mine from his reach and put a hand on my hip,"How does it look?"

The dress was a flimsy old calf length white night gown I owned with green cotton stitched in the sides and a green short-sleeved corset jacket thing with ribbons crossing in the front. My hair was up in a large bun to give off the time period, but my shoes were the same ones I had worn to school. Shishido was supposed to be dressed up too, he better not have forgotten that.

"It looks fine."

I nodded in approval and sat next to him, opening my bento. He took a piece of shellfish like he always did,"Gekokujou..."

I shook my head at him and bit into some of my own bento, thinking over my lines for the skit.

* * *

"And now I need Shishido, Ryou and Ryuuka, Simone up here for Love's Labour's Lost."

I groaned inwardly, picking up the crudely drawn paper man that was supposed to be the man that Shishido's character would speak to. I set him up and Shishido plugged in the radio with the tape, making sure it was set up. I coughed into my hand,"Our skit is from Act IV Scene 2. My character is Jaquenetta."

"My character is Holofernes."

A moment later we set up and I pressed the putton the remote I had in my pocket to play the tape.

I spoke my line first, looking towards Shishido intently. He looked pretty nice in the clothes he was wearing for our skit, green just like mine,"God give you good morrow, Master Person."

"Master Person, quasi pers-one. And if one should be pierc'd, which is the one?" Shishido responded, recieving a few snickers from the crowd of students in our class.

The tape than began the next line,"Marry, Master Schoolmaster, he that is likel'est to a hogshead."

Shishido continued on, portraying what looked to be heartiness,"Of piercing a hogshead! a good lustre of conceit in a turf of earth; fire enough for a flint, pearl enough for a swine: 'tis pretty; it is well."

I put out my hand that held the letter towards Shishido,"Good Master Person, be so good as read me this letter. It was given me by Costard, and sent me from Don Armado. I beseech you read it."

"Facile, precor gelida quando pecus omne sub umbra ruminat, and so forth. Ah, good old Mantuan! I may speak of thee as the traveller doth of Venice: Venechia, Venechia, Che non te vede, che non te prechia. Old Mantuan, old Mantuan! who understandeth thee not, loves thee not. Ut, re, sol, la, mi, fa. Under pardon, sir, what are the contents? or rather, as Horace says in his—What, my soul, verses?"

I saw a drip of sweat fall from the top of Shishido's forehead, most likely from the long lines he had memorized. I was really surprised that he had put so much effort into this.

"Ay, sir, and very learned."

"Let me hear a staff, a stanze, a verse; lege, domine." Shishido stated, putting his hand up for effect and looking quite funny.

Cue the radio,

"If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love?

Ah, never faith could hold, if not to beauty vowed!

Though to myself forsworn, to thee I'll faithful prove;

Those thoughts to me were oaks, to thee like osiers bowed.

Study his bias leaves, and makes his book thine eyes,

Where all those pleasures live that art would comprehend.

If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice;

Well learned is that tongue that well can thee commend,

All ignorant that soul that sees thee without wonder;

Which is to me some praise that I thy parts admire.

Thy eye Jove's lightning bears, thy voice his dreadful thunder,

Which, not to anger bent, is music and sweet fire.

Celestial as thou art, O, pardon love this wrong,

That sings heaven's praise with such an earthly tongue."

I smiled to myself as Shishido looked over at the radio with a smug look,"You find not the apostraphas, and so miss the accent. Let me supervise the canzonet."

He swiped the open letter he had set on top of the radio back and studied it over,"Here are only numbers ratified, but for the elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy, caret. Ovidius Naso was the man. And why indeed "Naso," but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy, the jerks of invention? Imitari is nothing: so doth the hound his master, the ape his keeper, the tired horse his rider. But, damosella virgin, was this directed to you?"

"Ay, sir, from one Monsieur Berowne, one of the strange queen's lords." I stated, bowing my head a bit as I took a step closer.

"I will overglance the superscript: "To the snow-white hand of the most beauteous Lady Rosaline." I will look again on the intellect of the letter, for the nomination of the party..." He picked up the fake pen- do not know why it was fake, it just was- and began to fake write as I looked down at my hands,"to the person written unto: "Your ladyship's in all desired employment, Berowne." Sir Nathaniel, this Berowne is one of the votaries with the King, and here he hath framed a letter to a sequent of the stranger queen's, which accidentally, or by the way of progression, hath miscarried. Trip and go, my sweet, deliver this paper into the royal hand of the King; it may concern much. Stay not thy compliment; I forgive thy duty. Adieu."

He let out his last words with a quick breath, obviously tired of speaking. I would be too if I were him, especially since he talks for most of this scene.

"Good Costard, go with me. Sir, God save your life!"

"Have with thee, my girl."

I turned and walked past Shishido as if I was leaving the room. I waited for a few more minutes before he was done speaking to the paper man drawing.

I stepped back out once he was done and touched Shishido's arm,"That was awesome."

He smirked back at me and I did something I did not think I would do, I punched his arm lightly and shoved half of my body practically all over his. Though, he did not pull back, but responded by pushing back and laughing. We looked at eachother's eyes and I felt myself go lighter.

* * *

I sighed, pushing my pen down on the desk a bit. Masawa was sleeping in the back of the classroom and Miyauchi sat next to me. I felt his intense stare and looked over,"Hm?"

"What's bothering you?" He asked. Even though he was quite the fragile chicken he pointed to himself with a wide, confident smile,"I can give some awesome advice."

I turned my body and crossed my legs along with my arms,"Okay, well. This guy and I had this extreme fight, but I don't want to admit that I was wrong even though I've seen him sort of change. He seemed to give up on something so quickly and yell at me, making me feel like I had a bit of the blame on me as well. And than we goes and starts getting himself deliberately hurt to STRENGTHEN himself and it just pisses me off that he can do this and not even think twice about it! I tried to be friends with him, but he seems to push me away- reminding me that we're still in the middle of a fight about his stupid pride."

I took a deep breath afterwards, looking to the hazel eyed boy for words of wisdom. He put his hand onto his chin, thinking for a moment before he put his fist into his hand,"That reminds me of this time I ate my cousin's favorite chocolate cake. It was his last one since he was trying to give up on chocolate cake and go straight vanilla, but I apparently made him very angry. So, he goes ape on me and pushed me off of the jungle gym. Mind you I am quite fragile- I bruise from walking in the hallway!"

I felt my eyes deadpan at him as he continued on with this pointless story.

"Than he starts yelling at me, as if he's about to cry. I freak out because even though he's the older one I'll get in a lot of trouble- so I start crying first. He wanted to complain about food, so I said he had been stealing my egg sandwiches to eat them in front of me for the past two weeks and that he almost threw one of them at me the day before. My mom is not happy- and neither is his. Of course, this doesn't help the cake dilemma and soon we got into another quarrel, but he got gum stuck in my hair, GUM. I swear- he did it on purpose. But, we ended up getting our heads stuck together because he had been laughing to close to me and we had to wait for a few hours for someone to help up because his grandmother thought it was the funniest thing in the world and we did not trust his younger brothers to get us out of that mess, plus his older sister wasn't even home! So, after three hours I finally apologized for eating his cake. I got a kick to the butt, but I got him in the ankle, getting us even. He got over it I got over my fake reasoning with the egg sandwiches. Of course, I won't admit to my kicking being the reason he has weak ankles. Oh, is that the time? Well, I better wake up Masawa-san. Bye Ryuuka-chan."

I stared, gaping at the boy- trying to decipher his words. Though, I was just going to give up now- on him and the story. I sighed and walked out of the room, not even bothering to change into my shorts. I pulled out my phone and looked at it, clicking through the numbers. I stopped on a familiar one and put it up to my ear.

_Moshi Moshi._

"Hello? It's me, Simone."

* * *

I don't think I've ever left a cliffhanger before. Now, do not jump to conclusions- it's not what you think, too soon for that. I was going to end this with her leaving the school in the sunset staring at a certain number on her phone, but this crept its way in XD.

Now, the reason for this title is really nothing. It really has almost nothing to do with the chapter itself. I was trying to think of a cool name, and though 'ooh dramatic'... Than I was all 'OH! Syllables!' And that happened. [In Japanese Math is not pronounced with the H... From what I've heard anyways.]

...Yes, this was a bit short DX

**SideNote**: I have been becoming obsessive with the songs sung by the Tennis persons. It started with Niou... Than Rikkai Young Kan... Than Shishido- and now I have found my obsession with it. I feel so horrible wishing that a few of them were real XD.

Will update VERY soon since I have some more free time!

**Responses**:

ZzBlack NightzZ: Oh yes, much bad luck... That turns good? Who knows. She been fratenizin' with them persons.

AznMistress: Oh yes, Mukahi is just awesome like that.

leogirl321: Glad to know you saw that one ahead of time.

yumcha-girl: I must say, I loved getting threatened by a falling piano. Your review made me laugh and open up this document XD.

~ [Super ASAP] Tai. :P


	22. Unsure Accident

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 22: Unsure Accident

* * *

"Hai, hai. That's great, Yuuta-kun. You guys are gonna have another match for fun? Um, I think I can make it... When is it again?"

I rolled off of my bed, wandering over to my calendar,"Saturday the 12th? Well I have nothing going on, so sure- I'll be there to see you pulverize Seigaku or somehing."

_Slam._

**"Simone~!"**

I heard my father's happy voice downstairs and ended my conversation with the young Fuji boy quickly so that I could speak with my father. I walked out of my room and down the stairs,"Yes, chichi?"

He walked up to me and gave me a large hug, deciding that he wanted to suffocate me. After a moment of hugging him back I felt the need for air slowly becoming a problem. I began to flail, trying to move my father. When he let go I fell limp in his arms,"Nyeee."

"I've missed you my daughter- we never talk anymore."

I looked up to his smiling face, seeing that sparkle in his eye. I felt faint, so I stood up and backed off,"Chichi, I'm not feeling too good, maybe another time."

I quickly ran up to stairs in case my father would not take no for an answer.

* * *

I bit my lip as I sat in detention, folding my fingers over one another. Masawa was absent today and Miyauchi had no idea where she was. Though, he had started on one of his rants about boiling eggs, but I decided to only half listen. The ending of this hell was coming to an end soon and I wanted to be out of here. The second the clock hit 4:30 I shot up and out of the room, my destination already in mind. I quickly darted around tennis players to find the main one of them all. I spotted my target in front of some special bench, his arms crossed.

I walked up next to him, imitating him,"**Hello, Atobe.**"

He glanced down at me,"**What brings you to the courts?**"

I looked around, seeing no one that could potentially bother us and turned to him,"**I need you to do me a favor.**"

He rose an eyebrow, wondering what could be so important. He shook his pointer finger a bit, waving me to go on.

"**Can you look at my shoulder?**"

Both of his eyebrows rose at this, he was thoroughly confused as to why she would ask him this,"**Why?**"

She leaned in a bit,"**Three days ago I was walking down here and got smacked in the shoulder by some crazy, flying neon tennis ball. I don't want to go to the nurse because she'll call my dad, and he doesn't need anything to worry about.**"

He took a moment, but nodded,"**Ore-sama will be your savior. This way.**"

I nodded to him gratefully and followed.

* * *

Shishido looked up from his practice swings to see Ryuuka, Simone walking onto the courts slowly. He stopped to watch as she found whatever she was looking for and hurried to that person. He felt sort of shocked when she stopped next to their captain, Atobe Keigo. They spoke for a moment, quietly. This made Shishido want to find out what they were saying- especially when Atobe's expression rose into shock and he ushered her off. The boy felt the racket in his hand very much as he gripped onto it as he watched his captain walk off with his arm on Ryuuka's lower back.

"S-Shishido-san?"

The tennis ball in the senpai's hand flew out a moment later, scaring his kouhai nearly to death.

* * *

I was sitting in Atobe's office thing with only my tank top on as he looked at my shoulder. It was a large dark blue bruise with little black dots littering some areas. Now that I was looking at it again it did not look so good. Atobe put his cold hand on my shoulder lightly, looking at the bruise and than the back of my shoulder. He twisted his mouth and lifted my arm, causing me to wince in pain. He nodded to himself and stood up.

"So?"

He walked back witha roll of special bandages,"You might have fractured some bone, ripped some muscle. If a tennis ball did this it must have been going about 180 km/m, maybe more."

I nodded as he lifted up my arm and started to wrap my shoulder in whatever way he was. I felt him tighten it over my shoulder before he looked at me,"Who hit you with the tennis ball."

"It was an accident, they don't even know they hit me."

"Accident?"

"I wasn't supposed to be where I was and the tennis ball proved it."

I moved my arm and bit before sliding back on my white collared shirt and black jacket, not bothering to button it back up. We both stood up and began to leave the clubroom.

"Ryuuka-chan?"

I shoo'ed goodbye to Atobe and looked to see my kouhai. I smiled widely,"Ah, you've grown since I last saw you!"

Hiyoshi deadpanned at me,"We saw eachother at lunch."

I tackled him with a hug,"And it's been too long!"

He pushed my back, trying to not get noticed by his coach or whatever. I bit my lip and winced, pulling back my shoulder. He noticed and bowed in apology. I shook my head at him,"Don't do that- you didn't know."

* * *

Shishido glanced over to the smiling girl with her kouhai. He spotted bandages faintly hidden by her shirt and jacket that wrapped over her shoulder. He tore his gaze from it and returned the tennis ball coming at him, still wondering about Ryuuka's shoulder.

* * *

"What happened, senpai?"

I pulled up my jacket a bit,"I got hit with a tennis ball, it's not too bad."

Hiyoshi's eyebrows rose at me,"A tennis ball wrecked up your shoulder?"

I nodded,"Yea, it was going pretty fast and I didn't have any warning- a complete accident though."

He nodded to me this time before bowing once more. I flicked his ear- which caused his to shoot up and hold his throbbing skin. I shot him a stern look, pointing at his nose,"Don't go bowing to me- it wasn't you who hit me with the tennis ball."

I glanced from my kouhai to see Shishido's eyes looking at me. I tore my gaze away quickly,"I should get going. Ja, Yoshi-kouhai!"

* * *

I sat on my bed and fumbled with the blue phone in my hands. I was thinking about the talk with Satou I had before and was still not sure about the meaning behind his words.

_So, after three hours I finally apologized for eating his cake. _

I thought about Shishido, about what I should do.

_"I will overglance the superscript: "To the snow-white hand of the most beauteous Lady Rosaline.".._

He learned all of those difficult lines and dressed up, and... I leaned back onto my bed, going through the times I had watched him practice. Getting hit with the tennis ball going so fast. I glanced to my shoulder, trying to understand how Shishido was doing. I only got hit once, he got hit straight on. I closed my eyes, unsure of myself even more now. What if I screw up somehow? Oh gosh, I'm such a chicken.

I turned over and looked out my window, deciding that if I was really supposed to be doing something about it I would have done something by now, right? Yea, exactly. I closed my eyes and curled up next to Salmon, feeling sleep capture me in its clutches. I gladly let it carry me away as I forgot the pain in my shoulder.

* * *

_Bring._

_Bring._

_Bring._

_"Hey, it's Shishido Ryou, leave a message if your worth talking to."_

_BEEP._

**"H-Hey Shishido... It's me, Ryuuka Simone..."**

**

* * *

**

This time I was not leaving you on a cliffhanger[Well, a MAJORISH one], but I want to know if you guys do know who hit the tennis ball that hit Simone's shoulder, it's kind of hard to decipher since I never stated it outright.

Finally, we are almost to the pit of my ideas. I have crossed the hump that is known as fillers- but beware that there will be more of those themselves. Bwuaha.

**SideNote!: **Anyone and **EVERYONE** who reads this should immeaditely go to youtube and look up 'gezidasa daze' sung by Shihido Ryou. It is the most addicting thing that I now know. =3=

**Responses:**

~-Refer to Chapter 21-~

~ [My Heart Soars] Tai.


	23. Inkbite

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 23: Inkbite

* * *

There was horrible groaning heard from behind the door of the bathroom in the Ryuuka household. It seemed that the young girl of the household was sick to her stomach from something. She sat over the toilet wincing at the pain in her shoulder as she adjusted her body. Maybe her father had given her something that was not fully cooked, maybe her grandfather gave her some kind of flu? She refused to think that it had something to do with her headache that caused her whole body to pulse.

Saturday would have been her last day in detention, but right now all that she was thinking about was the chunks in the porcelain bowl in front of her. She smirked to herself, remembering what she had said the night before. Maybe she did have it in her... Just now it was in the plumbing system.

Simone began to stand, a firm grip on the marble counter as she mused to herself about not going to school for a while. Her family was not home seeing as both of the males had something to do during the day, leaving her all by herself. Her grandfather had gone off to play Go with some old friends, but she had never known he had old friends here since she never met them. Stumbling out of the bathroom, she wandered into the living room- collapsing onto the couch. An immeadiate groan of frustration sounded around the house once she realized that she had forgotten to get the medicene for her headache.

A crash caused her to shoot up, alerted. It turned out to only be her cat Salmon knocking something off of the table. The blonde reached down to pick it up, stopping when she looked at the picture. A woman with beautiful brown hair was smiling with a young boy of about six years old standing next to her, poking at the newborn she had in her arms. Simone set the frame down on the table and leaned back, continuing to stare at it.

_"Mommee!"_

_ A gasp sounded throughout the kitchen as the little blonde girl screamed this out. She was only 13 months old, but her heard was swamped with a mess of blonde hair, and now she was speaking her first words. The tall woman hurried over to her daughter, picking her up and spinning her._

_ "Simone, you said my name!"_

_ The little girl laughed with her bubbly voice, spreading her arms out,"Mommee!"_

_ "Yugh, what's going on, Mom?" A little voice sounded from the corner entrance to the kitchen. A seven year old boy with very short dark blonde hair rubbed his eye with his fist, just having woken up from his sleep. _

_ "Your sister just said her first word!"_

_ The young boy walked over to the little girl that was still in diapers,"And?"_

_ A moment later hair was being pulled and the little girl screamed,"Ani!"_

_ That was when a man that looked to be in his late twenties dove into the kitchen, running to his little daughter. His eyes sparkled happily as he raved about how his little girl was already speaking Japanese._

_ "Mom! Jeram took my kitty!"_

_ The yelled that sounded around the house was from a little six year old who had just gotten a stuffed kitten from her father. Said stuffed animal was now being tossed back and forth in the front yard between the older brother- now at the prime age of 12- and his friend Ron. The blonde tyke jumped up and down, trying her hardest to grab her animal. When it did not work she sat down, tearing up._

_ "Jeram- I think your sister's gonna cry."_

_ The older boy looked indifferent to his sister. He loved her and all, but she had spilled orange juice all over his things just this morning and he was still unhappy about it._

_ "She'll get over it."_

_ The girl pouted even more and shot up, a bit more angry than sad. She charged to the front door and shoved it open,"Mom!"_

_ The house was silent, confusing. The little girl ran towards her parents bedroom since that was where her mom had been folding laundry._

_ "Mo-m?"_

_ The older woman layed on the bed, as if she was asleep. The little girl freaked out, immeaditell thinking the worst as she ran out to her older brother._

Simone jumped at the crash of a gate from the neighbor's home. She quickly turned the picture away from her view and pressed the power button for the TV. An anime with some odd karate thing popped on... It was good enough.

She stared at the TV, her eyes stinging from the air flowing from the vents that was also killing her already ruined hair. Her head still pulsed from the migraine she had begun to have since this morning. Not wanting to continue on with this pain, she shot up and walked to the kitchen, opening the medicene cabinet, looking for this little red bottle. She quickly opened it and popped two pills into her mouth, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and washing them down. She returned the water bottle to the fridge and closed it, stopping at the picture of her when she had first gotten Salmon. Her father wanted to make up for leaving America.

Simone grabbed her forehead in pain, the headache seeming to get worse. She felt her stomach lurch and she ran towards the bathroom, hoping to make it in time.

* * *

When I was younger I had the brightness of a lightbulb- that's what my brother always said. I had the temper of a fiery dragon, but the naivety of a cricket. Of course, I was very pessimistic apparently... Though I remembered that part clearly. When I had first found our mom passed out on the bed in our parents room I figured she was dead, but when the ambulance and our dad got there we found out she just had a heart attack. My dad said that I was a life saver, but I do not really look at it that way.

Anyways, she was in the hospital for a few weeks, but we visited her very often and I would usually bring her something from the first grade classroom whether it be a tiny bottle of Germ-X or a gel pen. She kept it all with her and continued to be our mother all the way up to the point of scolding Jeram for pulling my hair. She was a wonderful person, but being a wonderful person does not matter.

Ryuuka, Chelsea was released on May 26th, a day before my "graduation" from first grade to the second grade classrooms in the big building at my elementary school. I was seven and sat on the steps at home- waiting for dad's car to pull into the driveway and my mother to get out, breathing in the smell of her flowers in the front. I waited for a few hours, sitting there... Just waiting. The only car that arrive was our Aunt Michelle's. She got out and immeaditely hugged me, bringing me inside. I cried all through dinner because I would not be the first to see my mom when she got home.

In the middle of the night I had gotten up at the sound of my dad's car in the driveway. I was so happy to hear the sound I had been looking forward to all day. I ran out of my room and into his since he had just walked into it. I failed to notice the tears in his eyes as I hugged him happily and asked where my mother was. I think that's when I stuck some things in my personality that I still use today.

My attitude toward things changed from being a crybaby to tolerating mostly everything. I became more positive and even started to form the habit of reading English Literature- though that's more now since I was not that good of a reader in the First grade.

* * *

"Simone? I got a call from your school..."

Ryuuka, Kyou stopped speaking as he slowly opened the door to his daughter's room. Her back was to him, but she did not look well. He nodded to himself before closing the door back over, going down the stairs to make dinner.

Simone stared down at the small stuffed kitten tight in her grasp. It's fur was dark brown with a golden stripe down it's back to the tip of the tail. Her migraine had come back, wanting to take her down and it was difficult to take the pain with ease. She frowned deeply before fumbling for her sheets to cover herself and try to get some more sleep.

* * *

"Hey, chichi..."

Ryou looked up from his paper's for dean stuff at the university to put his attention to his daughter. She had slept nearly all day on Sunday, refusing to walk out of the house. He had found the picture on the table standing up so he knew that his daughter was probably returning to the sad events.

"Yes, musume?"

Simone sat in her seat at the table, nibbling on a bit of buttered toast,"Am I like haha?"

Ryou set down his papers, getting out of his seat and switching to the one next to his daughter. He pushed the hair out of her face, looking at her with love,"You are in a lot of ways. You may not have known it, but you and her act a lot alike."

He poked his daughter's nose, causing her to smile and wrap her arms around him. Ryou pet his daughter's hair, thinking about the day,"Why don't you stay home today and looked after my chichi?"

Simone smiled, nodding her head of blonde hair,"Hai."

* * *

"Kishigami-senpai."

The dark haired girl turned around to her kouhai, and her brown eyes recognized him as the Second Year that Ryuu-chan would hang out with.

"Hai, Hiyoshi-san?"

"Have you seen Ryuuka-chan?"

She shook her head, a small frown coming to her face. She had not seen her friend since Friday and she was getting worried. Her and Ryuuka had never exchanged phone numbers so it was not like she could call her up or anything to check if she was alright.

"Do you know what happened to her shoulder?"

The senpai looked to Hiyoshi, confused. Mainly on the shoulder bit, but also about why he was speaking so much when he was known for his few words. She shook her head as they both sat down at a lunch table,"Iie. What happened?"

Hiyoshi looked around, thinking that he should not have brought it up,"She got hit with a really fast tennis ball in the shoulder. Apparently she may have broken a bone or ripped a muscle."

"Ten...nis?" Hana was confused, not understanding why her friend would be involved with that.

"N-Nani? !"

The two looked up to see Ootori, Choutarou- another second year. He was holding a plate and looking at them, worried beyong belief. Hana's face flared up into a red cloud as she motioned to the seat next to her,"Are you okay, Ootori-kun?"

He took the offer and sat down,"U-Uhm, who hit R-Ryuuka-senpai?"

Hiyoshi shrugged,"She said it was an accident and that she didn't have warning about it. I'm just wondering where it came from since someone should have seen it happen by the courts."

Choutarou shook inside violently, worried to bits. He knew that he had something to do with this- especially since she had been watching them from the bushes the last time. He moved the food on his plate back and forth slowly.

"O-Ootori-k-kun, w-what's the m-mat-"

"Yo, Choutarou!"

Hana stopped, her face still flushed red. She looked around the table to see that Hiyoshi was gone and now Shishido was sitting with them. She had no idea what to say now as she kept herself together. She glanced up to see Choutarou looking directly at her. Her face faded of all color and she bowed her head quickly, running out of the cafeteria,"I have to go!"

"Ne, Choutarou, what's up with you?"

The silver haired kouhai shook his head, his stomach twisting in every direction. There was nothing that he could say about this.

"What happened?"

"Shishido-san, do you have... Nevermind."

The brown haired boy rose an eyebrow, but brushed it off, biting into his food. He'd find out whatever the boy was freaking out about soon.

* * *

Okay, that's it. Done. The next one will not be out until probably Thursday or Friday. Apologies for such a wait, seeing as you have no idea what Simone said to Shishido's voicemail ;D. I personally dislike this short ending, but this one was a bit longer than my other ones have been. This one may have also been boring, but we got some backstory for Simone :].

**Responses**:

AznMistress: I miss Yuuta, too. She called him back when they exchanged numers in #Whatever. Yea, it probably does- I've only bruised like that once, but this injury is probably going to come back in some time down the road.

FireWingedWolf: Truthfully, I hate cliffhangers and rarely use them, but lately they have been popping up everywhere for me XD.

leogirl321: Yes, yes. The drama is awesome.

~ [Still Awake] Tai.


	24. Apologies, Accepted?

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 24: Apologies, Accepted?

* * *

_Bring._

_Bring._

_Bring._

_"Hey, it's Shishido Ryou, leave a message if your worth talking to."_

_BEEP._

_**"H-Hey Shishido... It's me, Ryuuka Simone..."**_

_Waiting a moment, I sat in the silence. I chuckled to myself halfheartedly._

_**"Um, I really don't know how to say this. I-I guess it had to do with that fight we had... You know that one? I may live only three houses down, but I am really being a chicken. Heh, I don't think I have it in me to say this to your face."**_

_I felt my body lurch forward as my throat tried to shut it self as I blurted out my next words._

_**"I'm sorry for everything I said! You're not a coward or undetermined- you're all of the opposites of those plus some. Sorry!"**_

_I quickly shut the phone and than hurried to close my blinds so no one could look in at me. After that I ran over to my door and locked it before sitting on the floor to stare at the things in my room._

* * *

I groaned as my internal alarm woke me up, screaming at me that I was going to go to school today whether I wanted to or not. I had to finish up my last day of detention and Mimori needed those papers. I stepped off of my bed, turning my alarm clock off at the same time, and put my hand up to my shoulder, thinking about changing the bandages. Oh, right- see, Sofu saw it yesterday and bought me some of those fancy ones. I told him not to tell dad, but apparently he was already under the impression that dad had no idea about it.

Walking over to my closet I pulled out the day's outfit. My blue undershirt turtleneck seemed like the best candidate to put under my uniform because of my internal chills. I made sure I had everything and stalked off to take a shower.

* * *

"Ryuuka."

"Hai." I stated back to the man, bringing my palm up quickly. I had not missed this school- especially the first people I met with. My eyes travelled up to the back of Shishido's head, making me hold back a sigh of frustration.

He had not given me one look, not even a word to me since I walked into the classroom. It was as if he was ignoring me on purpose. Maybe he did not accept my apology? Why am I caring what he thinks?

Running a hand through my hair, the tone sounded and soon Sikomori-sensei's class began. I ignored her slight glares as the class went on and on, it's end seemingly never coming. I looked down at my sheet of notes, seeing a large circle in the middle. I must have drawn it when I dissapeared into my thoughts.

* * *

"Ryuu-chan!" I heard my friend shout as she enveloped me in a hug, making sure to avoice my shoulder. I guess that she heard about my injury from someone- probably Yoshi-kouhai. I patted her back to return the hug before she sat down,"I was so worried about you, and I didn't have your number an-"

"Kishi-chan, I'm fine." I stated, smiling to my worried friend.

She nodded back,"That's good."

Class went on, English came, and so did beginning some lesson of adverbs. I ignored Penny-sensei and looked out the window, glad that my desk was not facing around towards my partner like it usually was supposed to. Sensei went on about some words, trying to get people to insert their own opinions, but it was not working. When the tone sounded for the lunch time to start I quickly picked up the two bentos I had and went to the staircase.

I saw Yoshi-kouhai sitting already- making me wonder how he could be so quick. I shrugged and sat next to him, handing him the extra bento,"I haven't seen my kouhai lately, you may have been starving."

He smirked at my "worry" and opened the bento, grateful that I had brought him his own. I laughed at his reaction, opening my own. We sat in silence for a moment before I asked him how Kishi-chan had found out about my injury. He explained the events of the day before and it seemed plausible, perfeting fine.

"Ryuuka-senpai, gomenasai!"

I stopped mid-chew, confused out of my mind as to why Ohtori Choutarou was bowing to me. I could not remember anything that he would be freaking out about since we never exactly talked- Oh no! I quickly put my bento down and ran at him, pulling him out of the staircase. After all, if he was misunderstanding something than my kouhai might murder him- or worse, tell others.

When we stopped I looked to him, no remembering his height,"What's wrong, Ohtori-san?"

"Well, your shoulder..."

I shook my head at his insinuation,"Iie- you're fine. Besides, I wasn't watching what was going on."

His brown eyes still frantically shot at my shoulder,"B-But I!"

"No, you didn't. Shishido went to get the ball- therefor I figure he was trying to hit it back. Also, if I got hit full force in the shoulder by your expert serve I would not have just a bruise- I'd be in a hospital."

There was silence flooding the halls, no words being shared between the two. It got to the point of being almost awkward.

"Ah, Ryuu-cha-Ah..."

I turned to see Kishi-chan stopping in mid sentence at seeing our kouhai. I smiled to her and pushed over Choutarou,"Why don't you two talk, see ya!"

Choutarou waved to the girl,"Hello, Kishi-senpai."

Hana felt her face glow a bright red as she waved back,"H-Hi, Ohtori-kun..."

* * *

"Okay, that should be the last bit of our lesson today. I want all of you to start that passage tonight of page 257. It is not that difficult, and don't forget the activity after it!" Penny-sensei said to everyone, shouting the last part seeing as the tone had sounded and people were beginning to leave.

"Ah, Simone-chan, are you as excited to be my partner as I am to be yours?"

I stared at the blue haired boy with flat eyes, unamused at the turn out. He was one of the only people I "talked" to here in Trigonometry and I was happy, though disgusted, that we were partners for the rare activity spots here in Kira-sensei's class. I stared down at the book on his desk, seeing the title speaking out to me.

'Foreign Exchanges'

He saw my interest in the cover and handed it to me,"On one condition."

I stared at him, wondering what he meant on that condition,"Yea?"

"You must join the foreign exchange committee- I am afraid that more members are needed since so many have sports."

I deadpanned at him, but snatched the book from his hands,"Fine, Oshitari-san, let's just get this activity over with."

His eyes looked at me slyly,"No nicknames today?"

I flared up and glared at him,"Baka- let's just get this over with!"

"Ryuuka! No shouting in my classroom!"

"Hai, Kira-sensei." I glared back over to the boy who now had his math book out and was acting as if it had always been out on his desk. Augh, that frustration. I had him start the project as I opened to the first page, immeaditely becoming drowned in the storyline.

* * *

"Ryuuka-chan~... Play with me."

I looked up from the book, seeing Jirou poking at the table in front of me, looking down. Mukahi had to spend this free period doing stuff for his exercise committee and I had been positive that Jirou would be asleep. I closed the book and leaned my chin onto the table,"What's wrong, Gawa-san?"

"I can't get to sleep."

Silence flooded the library as my brain tried to take what he said and process it. This had to be a dream because an awake Jirou meant the apocalypse. I stared at him with wide light caramel eyes. I sat up, pushing back my blonde hair, and stared at him,"You can't get to... sleep?"

He nodded, looking at me with a pout,"And I'm really bored." He started to squirm in his seat wildly,"Play with me~."

I stared some more before standing,"What did you have in mind?"

His bright expression told me that the end was truly upon us.

"Really? Are you sure about this?" I asked, holding the blue racket in my hand. Yes, I said racket- a tennis racket. Somehow this boy expected me to play tennis with him. I have never actually held a racket before, much less played a game. So- I was now convinced that the end of the world was upon me along with the rest of Japan- what was I going to do?

"Hai, hai!"

The excitement from the boy across the court made me think that maybe this would not be TOO bad, just unsuccessful.

Let's see, the scary part happened when Jirou wanted to show me his special move. I thought nothing of it to tell you the truth- just a tennis move. I figured that he would show it to me, I would be awed by it since I would never be able to hit it back and bam, done. Though, it was not meant to happen like that.

"Moon Volley!" He shouted happily, causing me to shrink back at the tennis ball advancing at me. I swung the racket from my spot, even though I was no where near him at the time of his jumping, and than proceeded to fall back on my butt, feeling a pain in my shoulder. I sat up quickly to look at it, but saw my friend on the ground.

"S...Sugoi..."

The first thought that hit my mind was that I had killed him- so I forgot the pain in my shoulder and shot over to him,"Gawa-san!"

I kneeled next to him, shaking him lightly and not getting a response. The memory of my mother's death hit my mind and I began to worry that I had killed my friend. What was I supposed to do? Get help? Wait?

"Simone-chan, what are you doing on the court?"

I ran over to the blue haired boy, feeling my eyes watering a bit,"Oshitari! I think Gawa-san's dead!"

His eyes widened a bit even though his face read skeptical. He hurried over to the boy I was speaking about, only to chuckle at my worry. I set my hands on my hips, glaring to him,"What's wrong with y-"

"Here, these papers need to be given to Mimori of your committee, but I guess she would just give them to you- so fill them out."

I stared at him incrdeuously, still worred for my friend,"B-But..."

"He's just asleep."

My face burned and I turned from the boy, feeling ashamed and stupid. I overreacted and thought I had killed him when he was just asleep. How stupid could I be?

"So, what were you two doing on the courts anyways?"

I quickly took off, ignoring the boy's question completely,"I've got detention!"

* * *

"Shishido, here."

The newly taken back tennis regular looked to Oshitari as he changed,"What?"

"You left this here sometime last week- it's been in coach's office."

The brown haired boy looked down to see his blue cell phone, trying to figure out how he could forget something like that was missing. He took it and pushed down on the on button, feeling a bit relieved that he had it back. As it loaded he finished putting his tie back on along with his shoes- the phone now singing to him.

He glanced down to see that there were voicemails he needed to listen to. Calling the box that held them he listened for the messaged to start. The first was his brother telling him about something unimportant, the second was his grandmother telling him to pick up some stuff- which he never did, and the third was some stupid message from the school that as telling him about the upcoming events. He figured that was it and was about to close his phone when the automated voice began to speak again.

_Friday, 6:42 P.M._

_ "H-Hey Shishido... It's me, Ryuuka Simone..."_

Shishido stopped what he was doing and listened to the message, his eyes widening a bit at the message he was hearing.

* * *

"You can go now, Ryuuka- it's been twenty minutes since the end of detention."

I looked up to the detention teacher, realizing that what he said was true. I nodded and gathered all of the papers I had been absorbed in trying to get finished. I stuck them all into my bag and stood up, walking out the door to head home. The sun was giving the sky an orange tint, meaning that it was getting late. I moved my bangs out my view as I continued to walk on. My mind was now going through a million things at once- including the question of why Shishido had not said anything to me.

"Ryuuka!"

I stop, immeaditely recognizing the voice. I turn to see my neighbor, but instead spot a guy with short brown hair running up to me. My first thoughts were that he was quite the cute guy- hot even. Though, when he got closer I realized that it was truly Shishido and I looked away. Once his shoes came into view a silence enveloped the two of us- neither speaking.

"I'm sorry, too."

I felt my eyes widen as I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and through my hair. My mouth may have parted a bit, gaping at the ground along with this.

"I overreacted back when I had gotten kicked from the regulars. I shouldn't have ye-"

"You didn't overreact." I cut him off, getting some wide brown eyes back at me.

"You had every right to be angry about it."

He shook his head,"No, I was overreacting- I had been placed in an almost impossible situation."

I stepped forward, a bit angry,"No- I overreacted."

"No you didn't!"

We both continued to glare at eachother for another moment, angry apologies flying back at eachother through our stares. A minute passed by before I broke out into a smile and backed down, laughing to myself. I turned and motioned for the boy to follow, not saying a word. We both walked home together, a comfortable and understanding silence falling inbetween us.

* * *

Finally! I thought that this would never come! I wanted this chapter to be longer, but it was difficult to elongate all of the scenes- so I stuck in Jirou xD. I was going to have Simone and Yuushi have a conversation, but that did not plan out well. But yes, now the bumps- most of them anyways- have been smoothed.

Um, question here! : Should I wait a few more chapters or go ahead and post the HiyoshixOC thing I wrote up? Because now the storyline- for the most part- is set up.

Also, this involves Kishi-chan and Choutarou: I think that I will give them a miniseries, any ideas that people want to through in?

**Responses:**

yumcha-girl: Yes, I now realize that I did not think that ine through XD. I figured I had used it before, whoops.

leogirl321: Events will always be turning xD

Lone Panda: Thanks for your thoughts :DD!

~ [Hot Chocolate makes me Hot] Tai.


	25. Dinner was Nice

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 25: Dinner was Nice

* * *

_"My name is Chelsea Mathieson, I'm learning to be an architect."_

_The camera's angle went twisting every which way, the zoom going in and out. The brown haired woman frowned a bit, but was laughing a moment later._

_"Kyou, be careful with that camera- I'm borrowing it from Samantha."_

_A man's face came into view- his old glasses shining from the light,"Aha, sorry Chelsea..."_

"Kodomo, where are the breadcrumbs?"

I fumbled with the remote for the tape, hitting the TV button to turn the screen back to what had previously been on. I quickly pushed one of my bangs back, cursing it for slipping out of my ponytail. My brown eyes flew over to my grandfather as I laughed nervously,"Um, let me just get them sofu."

I stood up and walked over to him in the kitchen. I fixed my plaid, green pajama shorts, which ended just above my knee, and opened the cabinet above the sink, pulling down the bag with my fingertips. It landed in my palms and I turned back to my grandfather, who was now looking at me with a slightly worried look. I shrugged mentally, figuring he was glancing at my shoulder. I was currently wearing a tanktop- but it was all in safety... My father was going to be home late. I handed him the bag and was about to walk back to the living room when a loud bang sounded from the backyard. I hurried over to the open back door, but suddenly I was tackled down.

"AH!"

My shoulder had a sharp pain resound through it and I wanted to toss whatever had tackled me against the wall. I stopped myself when a wet tongue met my face. I began to laugh at Kyon and rushed my hands over his fur and sit up, happy to see the animal.

"Kyon! Get back here!"

I looked up at the boy now in my doorway. His dark hair was unruly, no longer at a length to be tamed at. I smirked up at him, remembering our "apologies" two days before. It was Thursday afternoon- a nice heat setting onto everything in July. Kyon jumped off of my when Salmon tackled him down, the two now playing(I hope). The boy looked down at me, and I immeaditely took notice of his eyes set on my bandaged shoulder. I quickly shot up and yanked the jacket off of the couch, sliding my arms into each sleeve.

"Hello, Shishido- no tennis today?"

He shook his head, not replying. My mind went everywhere- what are we supposed to talk about? It was not every day that he would come flying into myself- even after his dog. We both stood in front of the other, just staring. Right up to the point that my grandfather walked in.

"Ah, if it isn't Shishido-kun. Why don't you join us for dinner? We're having some sort of western food that I found a recipe for in Kyou's old stuff."

I would have protested, as I guess Shishido also would have, but my relative was already ushering us both to the couch. We both were forced to oblige and sat with the tv playing some sort of weather report.

"You may want to put those tapes away, Kodomo..."

My face immeaditely turned red as I fumbled to grab the remote. My father would be very worried for me if he saw me watching the tapes of my dead mother. I knew my grandfather- since he just made it clear he knew what they were- was already worried, but my dad may break down crying. I turned the tv back to the tapes and rewound them. I could feel Shishido shift, but I did not look at him as I stared intently at the screen, watching my brown-haired mother move backwards and such through different moments. When the screen went blue I stood up to put the tapes away.

"So, who was that?"

I clicked the box of tapes shut and began to roll up the cords for the camera as I responded,"My mother."

There was no response back to me, which made the air a bit heavy. I looked up to the couch when I was done folding the cords and we both kind of sat there in the silence. At that moment I really began to notice how different Shishido looked with short hair. I picked up a bit of my own and looked at it, wondering what I would look like with shorter hair.

"Don't even think about it."

I looked up to him quickly, a bit shocked that he somehow read my mind. I was about to ask him why I should not think about it when a crash came from the kitchen,"Kodomo Can you go to the convenience store?"

* * *

"Thanks for coming with me Shishido."

"No problem, Ryuuka."

I sighed and picked up a head of lettuce, staring intently at it. I was feeling a bit more in the mood for salad now. A tan hand suddenly took the lettuce out of my hand and put it back down. I felt my face heat up- whether it be in embarrassment from him touching me or because I was angry now- and looked up to him.

"You didn't come for that."

I pointed at him and shut my eyes,"Well maybe I want lettuce!"

"...You're causing a scene."

I sighed roughly and tossed the lettuce into my basket before dragging him along. We had left the house after my grandfather broke a few of the cans in our cupboard. Most of them were going to be the sidedishes and he decided we would be the best candidates to head out to the store since he 'walks like a snail'. I picked up a few of the cans needed before walking to the front of the store for checkout. The woman waved lightly and smiled as she finished up with the people ahead of us. A moment later she was setting everything into the bags and we were out the doors.

"Here, take a bag."

"Ugh."

"Hey, don't complain you!" I shouted as I handed him the bag with the cans. He was obviously being a baby if he could not handle it. We walked down the sidewalk in silence- the sky darkening slowly. I was a bit angry that it was getting dark so early, but it could not be helped. I twisted my lips and watched the lines on the sidewalk. I would wear my summer uniform tomorrow since it was finally washed out now. I had been getting in slight trouble by not wearing the jacket the past few days and not wearing the summer clothing.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

I continued walking at a regular pace as I formulated something in my head. I did not want to tell him since that could make him think that it is his fault- even if it is. I began to hum a bit as I thought. Changing the subject would be best.

"When's your next tennis match, Shishido-san?" Yes, the best way to distract is 1) show interest in something I could care less about, and 2) use a suffix.

"The thirteenth, it'll be the first matches of the Kantou tournament."

_Success!_

"Is that a big deal?"

He snapped at me and shouted,"Of course it's a big deal!"

I sighed at him and walked a bit faster,"Loud mouth."

"So, do you think my long hair is nice? It does get in the way sometimes..."

Shishido looked over to me in shock at the question. I glared at him quickly,"I just want the opinion of someone who doesn't really care... I guess."

"That made no sense. Your hair is fine."

* * *

I tried my best to not look at him in the silence that had engulfed the room. Sofu had decided to take forever with making dinner and chichi had yet to return from his day out. Kyon had been brought home after our return from grocery shopping and my friend had bored me with talk about his tennis. When I realized I had been staring at him for an elongated amount of time it turned out to be too late to act casual since he had been staring back. I turned my head quickly, hoping that someo-

"Ahh, what is that smell?"

My face broke out into a large smile,"Chichi!"

My father took off his creme jacket off of his well-dressed shirt before undoing his tie in an exasperated manner,"Today took forever. Oh," suprise took over his face,"you're staying for dinner, Ryou-kun?"

I had tried to forget that the boy was there, but once again my eyes were analyzing him as if he was some foreigner. He nodded,"Hai."

"Brilliant!" Father shouted as he slipped into his house shoes and went to check on my grandfather. I bit my lip and turned back to Shishido. He was looking right back at me and for some reason worry shot through me when he opened his mouth to speak.

"You're dad's really happy."

I nodded in a relieved manner and moved my legs so that they were criss-crossed,"Yeah, he acts like that a lot... It's refreshing."

"Refreshing?"

I gave him a sly look as I nodded,"Yeah, a nice refreshing end to my day after dealing with your sour attitude."

"Ryuuka, watch your mouth!"

I laughed at his slightly flustered face as he must have been contemplating whether or not to push me. Before he could even decide that though my father came out with some plates and told us to join him at the table. My face lit up when I sat down when I noticed that my grandfather had made porkchops with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Shishido looked a bit preplexed at the food, but I handed him a fork and smiled again at my father.

"Ah, my favorite! Mom always used to make this when you were coming home late!"

My father laughed with me and we both knew that the other felt a pang of sadness in our hearts. Our tears were dried up at the moment and we probably would have slipped out a drop or two from our eyes if Shishido had not been seated at the table with us. I picked up the whole porkchop like I had always done and took a very unlady-like bit from one end before ripping it off. As I chewed I noticed Shishido moving the mashed potatoes around in some confusion.

"It's just a mashed up potato. Try some, it's good. Stop acting so wierd towards awesome food."

Awesome. Yes, that word did not have a great translation from English to Japanese, but it made sense to me and only that mattered. The short-haired boy took a bite of the mashed up poatoes and it was obvious that he decided they were safe for him to eat. Dinner went on with all of us eating in delight and some comments about the day and such jokes being passed and forth.

"Jeram called me."

I looked up from the last bit of potato on my plate,"Really? He didn't call me."

As he ruffled my long hair Ryuuka, Kyou continued his sentence,"Apparently he has a girlfriend."

Silence fell over the table for a moment. Shishido had no say in the matter and he really did not care, but sofu and I both let out giggles that turned into boisterous laughs. My father sat in a bit of confusion,"What's so funny?"

When I found myself able to respond I did,"Jeram having a girlfriend just sounds funny. Remember back when he got one in his second year of high school?" Father did not get it but Sofu nodded quickly, I continued. "He brought her over and it was disastrous from that moment on. She..." I could not seem to finish my sentence from laughing and I ended it at that.

"Well, um, this girl is apparently a different major, but they have the same art class. They supposedly met when she tripped him in the classroom." He chuckled at the thought.

I nodded in approval as I stood to gather the dishes,"I approve already."

Some minutes later when everything was cleared I looked over to my silent male friend. He had not spoken much at dinner and it made me wonder if he was like that at his own house at meals. I pushed his shoulder a bit and after getting his attention I smiled,"You always this serious when eating?"

He shrugged and I was shocked that he began to give me a response. "You guys are just lively, at my house we don't usually have very long conversations. If anything there is some sort of stupid argument about something stupid."

I stared with my caramel eyes in a bit of wonder. Shishido noticed this and pulled back a bit,"What?"

"That was some of the worst description I have ever heard."

He glared at me again,"Ugh, stupid Ryuuka."

Shishido stayed for another ten minutes before he had to leave to head back home. I waved goodbye to him, knowing that I would see him the next day. When I closed the door, relief came over me as I was yearning to run up the stairs and strip myself of this jacket that was heating me up.

"Hm, looks like someone else might be getting someone."

I snapped my head towards my sneaky grandfather sitting on the couch. While watching him intently I slowly back myself up the stairs. Mischevious old man.

* * *

AH! Sorry for not updating! I had about 3/4's of this typed, but I had no idea how to continue it. I need to think of more ideas to get Simone and Shishido to bond more since I have other ideas that I don't want to skip to yet since they don't involve too much of Shishido. If anyone has any good ideas I would love to know them :D.

~[Apologies to All...] Tai.


	26. Make My Day

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 26: Make my Day

* * *

Thursday, July 10th. I sneezed into my hands violently, realizing immeaditely the damage I had done. The week had been great since Shishido had eaten over at our house. Every day he got more interesting since now I wanted to know more about him. I did not want to sound creepy but he was the first Japanese kid I met my age and I always had some sort of connection to him, of course for many years it had been the urge to throw him out of a window (I still get those thoughts sometimes). My phone vibrated like crazy with some tone going off, signalling to me that Masawa had texted.

_I heard u were sick, wut disease did that baka give u?_

Yeah, it was from Masawa. The girl had not grown on me but she and I had an understanding, I hoped anyways seeing as I do not fancy her in that way. Satou, the boy actually in my grade, had texted me earlier this morning about Oshitari but I ignored it since the nerd was of no problem to me. I decided than- after responding- to head downstairs. My feet dragged along with the plastic bottoms of my pokemon (Wartortle of course) slippers. My pajama capris ended half way to my calves and were plain black with one white line. My shirt on the other hand was a purple tee with some writing from an anime, my grandfather had gotten it for me.

Opening the fridge I devoured some lunch meat straight from the container, not bothering with a plate. A squeak from metal startled me and after snatching the water bottle in the fridge I peeked into the living room. Sofu was out again doing old people stuff and the small picture on the ground in front of the mail slot gave me a foreboding feeling. Salmon found the item enticing and rubbed her body all over it. I sniffled and swiped it from under her, causing her to strike at my hand playfully. On the back it read something simple.

_Seishun Gakuen, Tokyo_

_To the girl illustrated._

I flipped the picture casually and felt the pit of my stomach pang at me. My water slipped from my hands and the picture's edge in my hand crinkled. On the photo was one of me casually changing, my hair pushed back by my shirt with bangs flowing slowly. My neck pulled back, eyes closed. The worst part was the cute bra I wore that made my chest look amazing (I can say that I am conceited at times). I noticed writing on it and decided that it was the truly worst part.

_Don't quite know how to tell you how I feel._

_-Momoshiro, Takeshi "Momo"_

My face paled immensly and after sticking my hair into a messy bun I stomped from the house on adrenaline.

* * *

When I reached my stop it was the after school hours and it had been for a good amount of time so no one was in my way. The bus ride had not been awful but I would have prefered regular shoes instead of my slippers. I angrily hurried through the campus, my light sweater (I had gone back for it) flapping in the wind. The campus' size left me unaffected, I saw bigger every day. The unmistakable sound of tennis led me to the courts. Ignoring the few people around the gates I walked straight to a tall man with block glasses. Once I found this boy I could leave.

"Hey."

He turned to my grumbling voice and rose his eyebrows,"Yes?"

"Which one is Momoshiro, Takeshi?"

He casually pointed his pen to the courts on the far right where two boys were finishing up a conversation. I felt anger rise in me and hurried over, evading anyone that got in my way.

"Momoshiro, Takeshi!"

The boy with spiky black hair turned and his purple eyes shined down to me. He smiled and nodded,"That's me." Confusion than struck him,"Who are yo-AH!"

I shoved his arm roughly and than made sure he got a good look at the picture he sent me. His face flushed and than turned bright pink,"You are a massive pervert!"

The courts became silent immeaditely after my statement. He froze and took a step back, his hands up,"I have no idea who you are, I don't even know your name!"

Each step he took back I took forward, shouting,"Don't act like you didn't take this! I have no idea who you are except that you somehow took a picture of me when I was changing! I admit, you're crafty since I am very good at changing in privacy but this is just disgusting, revolting! You're worse that Oshitari for the sake of everything that is normal! I did not come down here because I was flattered- far from it! I would expect this from some other Hyotei freak but from some low-life Seigaku pest that I have no idea would have even come in contact with me? If I catch you around me I will personally rip your arm off and make sure you become paralyzed!" I took a breath quickly and my voice began to get nasally,"I was sitting at home sick and getting this made it all the worse! Do you know how creepy it is to get something like this in your mail slot? I bet you have messengers since I live not very close to you! You sick freak, I don't even wanna know what you do to other girls! Have you been in my room? AUGH!"

I pulled my leg back and kicked him square in the shin before shoving him to the side, his balance thrown off from being backed to the gate and the pain that I hoped surged through his shin. I huffed loudly and turned to leave, sneezing a few times.

"Oh, are you alright to get back home?"

I looked up to see a kind boy with two black bangs. I nodded and sniffed,"I'll be fine. My grandfather might wonder where I went off to though."

"Are you sure it was Momo who did this?"

I raised the picture and his eyes widened, face turning red. A few of the others peeked over and I immeaditely put my hand over everything but the writing.

"It's got his name. He should have seen this coming since he's such a good stalker."

_See the dream awakening before our very eyes. I feel alive insi-_

I cut off the song by opening my phone. The setting was speaker and I began to trudge off with a small wave to the group and a wild glare at the pervert. They watched me go, including their woman coach and some girls in the Seigaku uniform (I mentally winced at the sight of their design). An annoyed voice spoke from the other side.

_"What was the big idea, Ryuuka? You left me in English Conversation ALONE."_

I sniffed and grunted back with a nasally tone,"Shut it Shishido, I got sick again and had to run an errand."

_"Errand? Like buying uneeded lettuce?"_

"No, I was actually beating up a pervert."

_"Ha. Ha. Really funny."_

* * *

"What's wrong, Kishi-chan?"

"I-I, um, well I wanna go to the, uhm-"

"The tennis matches for the Kantou tournament?"

Hana's face flared up wildly and I smirked. She was so easy to see through when it came to the boy she had a wild crush on. Laughing lightly I told her I would go with her since I would get to see Yoshi-kouhai play and also Shishido with Ohtori.

* * *

I looked down at my outfit to make sure no obvious lint littered it. I had wanted to wear my regular, gray shoes that went to my knees but Sofu had hid them from me. I instead wore thin leggings under my black cargo shorts. My stomach was unexposed since I wore a blue long sleeve midriff with a white midriff hoodie over it with purple strings. Adjusting my red baret I looked over Kishi.

She blushed under my eyes as I looked at her beige skirt, black button up tank top, and simple flats. My roughed up red shoes looked very pathetic next to hers. She had made sure to look good and I knew why.

"For Ohtori-san~."

"S-Simone-chan!"

I laughed at her as we completed our journey to the court that Hyotei would be at. I noticed a small crowd already beginning to form and hurried around them. Hana went to speak with Ohtori and I bypassed Shishido (quite obviously) to talk with my kouhai. I fixed one of his bangs and he deadpanned at me. A smile covered my face,"You need to look good when beating up whoever- uhm, who is it your matched against?"

"Seigaku."

A tingle went up my spine and I glanced behind my kouhai (once again ignoring Shishido since he had been the one to answer my question). I spotted the Seigaku team across the way and a smiling boy with brown hair tapped the pervert's shoulder. He pointed to me and the black-haired male saw me. My aura became threatening and I turned to run right into Shishido. I glared at him,"What were you doing there?"

"Standing, Ryuuka!"

I punched his arm and smirked,"Don't screw up, **you bumbling idiot**."

Since it was obvious I had insulted him he scoffed and shoved me back lightly before smirking. I felt my shoulder scream in pain and after nodding to him I yanked Hana away from Ohtori and hurried to find a decent place to sit. A bench on the side of the courts was my best bet and I shoo'ed a kid away before sitting down. Hana noticed the pained look on my face and touched my shoulder lightly. I nodded and bent forward to regain myself. He had no idea my shoulder was in pain and I hoped he would not find out.

Oshitari and Mukahi had failed in trying to overcome Seigaku and I hissed under my breath since the pervert had won. Hana gave me an odd look and I shook my head quickly and looked forward to the next match. Shishido and Ohtori wandered onto the court and I stood up to shout,"Oi, Shishido!"

He looked up to me with an annoyed look. I shouted out a bit louder,"If you lose than I'm dying your dog green!"

He glared at me in more annoyance since he had always hated the color green and would hate me forever if that happened. Of course, it was also because Mukahi was laughing from the sidelines at him. When they began, they were facing the guy with block glasses and a boy with a bandana, Ohtori started off with his super fast serve, Scud Serve if I thought about it a bit more. I smiled and nudged Hana, who blushed furiously. I knew she liked him so much and from what I had been taking in they had been speaking more often. The match had quickly turned boring and I longed for it to end. The guy from the other side talked some, one of them sent the tennis ball around the pole (I wanted to call a fowl but I do not think tennis works that way), and the end was so far from being there. Kishi squeezed my sleeve in anticipation and I took it that the match was getting close to the end.

The winners were announced to be Shishido and Ohtori and I smiled,"Darn, I wanted to dye his dog green so badly."

The day continued on like it had in the beginning. Just as boring each time. Jirou surprised me when he lost to Fuji, Syuusuke (I immeaditely made a connection to Yuuta and promptly texted him to see if he was doing alright) and Kabaji ended up injuring himself before that, which was more sad than anything. I heard my phone go off as the courts were cleared for another match and opened it, pressing it to my ear.

"Hello?"

_"Hey there you!"_

A smile erupted onto my face, speaking English to throw my family off.

**"Jeram! What are you doing?"**

_**"Um, let's see... Eating a sandwich and looking at your room. It's pretty messy. Oh my- you still have this doll? I can't belie- You still dress this thing up?"**_

The laughter on the other side caused me to blush from embarrassment and I hung up with him quickly when I finished telling him I would be there soon. Kishi nodded that she understood and I ran to the Hyotei team. I hurried to my kouhai and fixed his hair again much to his protest.

"You, Yoshi-kouhai, will be awesome today and I will have a bento made for you tomorrow since your amazing senpai has to go home."

"You're leaving, Ryuuka?"

I turned to Shishido and nodded matter-of-factly,"Jeram decided to pop up in town from school and he needs to be stopped from searching through my room."

"You're going to miss Atobe."

I brushed Oshitari off and walked on. Atobe stared me down and I merely stuck my tongue out at him so that I could get away. If he was to do something so amazing than I would hear about it when I got back to school. I hurried down the path and passed by the Seigaku team.

**"Hey."**

I stopped abruptly and turned to see a boy shorter than me clothed in the Seigaku tennis uniform,**"Hey."**

** "You kicked Momo-senpai." **A small, amused smirk came onto his face and I glared at the boy with black hair that neared us. I backed away and gave him the motion that I was watching him.

** "Make sure your friend doesn't do anymore perverted things."**

* * *

I have no excuse for not getting this posted sooner since it has been done for a month or two now. It has a companion chapter that is still incomplete cause I suck at life and for some reason this one does not seem complete. Either way, the story is in new arc. I have no idea what to name it, but it is a new one.

~ [I won't wait another month to post] Tai.


	27. The Other One

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 27: The Other One

* * *

Shishido, Ryou stared at the paper in front of him with dread pumping through his veins. The English made sense but at the same time it made him much more confused. The girl in front of him had been eerily quiet for the majority of the class. He moved his brown eyes to her seat and noticed it was empty. A heavy breathing suddenly shot over his neck. With a start he jumped over and looked back to see his replacement partner. She stared at him intently before looking down to his paper and smiling wide,"I can help with that."

Her teeth sent fear straight into Shishido's heart and he quickly escaped with an excuse to visit the washroom. On his way down the hall he ran his fingers through his hair. A breath escaped his lips and he wondered where his original partner could be. Immeaditely he felt his chest beginning to pound, the small feelings that seemed to have begun in March were growing a bit worse now that they were closer. Just the day before he and her had been talking about music and found many things that they both enjoyed.

He took the water and splashed it over his hands, washing them with soap to remove the disease he may have contracted from the girl in English Conversation. Ryuuka, Simone shot back into his mind. Her blonde hair, her caramel eyes, and any female features that any boy his age would notice. He glared at the sink and turned off the water, now angry with the girl for not being at school. The conversation from lunch came to mind.

_Shishido walked from across the cafeteria to where he usually sat. He personally disliked eating in the large room, wanting to return to eating in the classrooms as they had in middle school. Stupid Atobe and his westernizing of Hyotei. Once he sat the conversation seemed to cease between Choutarou and Kishigami. Trying his best to ignore it he opened his bento and picked up one of the onigiri._

_ "D-Do you know wh-where Ryuuka-chan might be?"_

_ Shishido shrugged and continued eating although he was wondering the same thing. Choutarou smiled at Kishigami and a moment later looked like he had flinched. Shishido rose his eyebrow,"You alright, Choutarou?"_

_ Quickly nodding he smiled again,"I'm fine Shishido-san, but what about you? Are you worried about Ryuuka-san?"_

_ If the older boy had not known any better than he would have said that his kouhai had been trying to delve into the deeper mind of his senpai and was even trying to make him think of all the possiblities that could have been going on with his female friend. Now he was even thinking of them, sort of._

_ "Not really, she's an idiot for missing today."_

_ He closed his eyes and began to eat again, but the moment he did the girl next to him squeaked. He gave her an incredulous look. She blushed widely and hurried off, Choutarou shrugging sweetly as she left._

Now he was worried. Even as he sat and worried for his own life in English Conversation he hoped that Ryuuka was not doing anything stupid- on any level.

* * *

Practice had been rough that day with the Kantou match against Seigaku coming up soon. Shishido huffed in anger after finally getting his school shirt back on and slipping his cap on top of his head. Ryuuka had not called and Masawa had been antagonizing him only moments earlier with her cousin. He picked up his phone and smashed the arrows to his contacts.

_Ring. Ring. Rin-_

"What was the big idea, Ryuuka? You left me in English Conversation ALONE."

There was a nasally voice on the other side and the sound of Ryuuka sniffling loudly,_"Shut it Shishido, I got sick and had to run an errand."_

Walking out of the gates he snorted,"Errand? Like buying uneeded lettuce?"

_"No, I was actually beating up a pervert."_

"Ha. Ha. Really funny."

_"Don't get sarcastic with me Shishido. What was so bad about English Conversation anyways ya sissy?"_

"Penny-sensei replaced you with that girl across the room."

A laugh erupted from the other end of the line and gasps of air had to be taken. Shishido glared at the sidewalk as he neared his home, though it was not in sight yet.

_"You mean the girl with the massive obsession with you? She goes waaaay past having a crush."_

He stopped in his tracks as the girl continued on the other side. That was it. People got over those, so therefore he had nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

**Nothing at all. Nothing at all. Yeah, nothing at all.**

* * *

Shishido stared inently at his racket before the matches against Seigaku were to begin. If he had not been in control of himself than he would have been pacing back and forth. Of course, this situation did not entail him that luxury. Huffing, he stood up to get some water right before he was rudely bypassed by Simone. He stopped and looked behind him to see the girl fixing her kouhai's outfit.

**Nothing at all. Nothing at all. Yeah- right.**

She stood there with her blonde hair falling down her back with her simple outfit on. Shishido turned from her to find his kouhai but noticed a certain friend of Ryuuka's talking to him.

"- uhm, who is it your matched against?"

"Seigaku."

Shishido could not help but respond to her question and he felt an inner flinch when she ignored him completely. Trying to forget everything going through his mind he pulled his cap down slightly. The action was in vain since she slammed into him when trying to walk away.

"What were you doing there?"

Anger flared inside of him because of the girl in front of him,"Standing, Ryuuka!"

A fist slammed into his arm followed by a smirk across her lips. He felt the color in his face drain as his heart thumped from thinking about how much a tomboy she really was, not even afraid to not lightly punch him.

"Don't screw up, **you bumbling idiot**."

Scoffing, Shishido shoved her shoulder back and smirked. The girl flinched slightly and hurried off to get her friend. He narrowed his eyes as she seemed to run to the bench on the outside of the court. A moment later she was doubled over. Figuring she was still feeling sick he shrugged and looked to his talking captain, Ryuuka nagging the back of his mind.

* * *

The Silver Pair began dominating the courts the moment they set foot on the ground. Shishido fumbled slightly in the rally and cursed himself for being distracted. His eyes had wandered to the sidelines, landing on the girl who threatened to dye his dog green. Feeling angry he slammed the tennis ball with his racket, shooting it across the court. She had been taking over his mind and it bothered him endlessley because it was uncomforable. To prevail through he decided on speaking to the girl after the matches, make her come out for ice cream or lettuce or something.

* * *

Shishido took a swig of water from his bottle, watching his blonde attention-taker saunter off after recieving a call from her brother. It had been obvious since she not only spoke to him in English but had a certain exhuberant expression. Inside he sighed, feeling failure as he did not get a moment's chance to ask her whatever he was going to try and ask her. Atobe walked onto the court in style and the blue-capped boy grimaced. Trying to find another outlet he searched for his partner only to find him once again talking to the dark-haired girl. Grumbling he sat and pulled his hair back before replacing his cap.

Nothing at all. **Nothing ****at **_**all**_.

* * *

Alternative Title: The Lazy Chapter

Thanks to everyone for liking the story and reviewing, it boosts my morale. This is really just a big fat filler, as will the next one most likely be. I still have no idea why Jeram is in town- which is pretty sad. Special thanks to Lone Panda for brightening my mood at midnight and making me laugh loud enough to wake my mom. That was a good inspiration.

~ [I enjoy musicals too much] Tai.


	28. Nothing to You is Something to Me

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 28: Nothing to you is Something to me

* * *

"Jeram, what brings you here?"

My father and Sofu had had gone out to get dog food and Kyouji, the Border Collie, was prancing around happily yapping. I did not see any girl so I figured that he was here for some reason unknown to me.

"My senses were tingling and I figured you needed me right now."

I rose an eyebrow at him, since when did I need him at a fine time like this. He must have noticed the confusion on my face and sat next to me on my bed.

"Sofu told me about the tapes, but my main concern is the boy."

"What boy?"

He tipped his head to the side,"You know. He pretty much bullied you and suddenly you both are, uh, _friends_."

I pulled my head back with wide eyes as I heard the suggestive tone in his voice. How could he-? He was insuffrable.

"What are you implying?"

He leaned over my bed a bit towards my face,"You know what I'm implying," he glanced me up and down,"you don't look defiled."

Pulling myself back I shrieked before shoving him off of my bed,"You giant oaf, what the- I mean that's- how could you- I! AUGH!" Shaking my fists to the ceiling I grumbled and sat back down, Salmon rushing to me shortly after.

After recovering from the attack he sat back on the bed, moving himself and his sweater away from me. Brushing his blonde bangs from his face he smiled at me,"I got a part time job at a high school."

"Doing what?"

"That's not the point. Anyways, the point I'm trying to get to i-"

"You're a janitor!" I shouted and stood up, snatching a manga from a shelf in my room. "Oh no, you're not secretly falling in love with a high-schooler are you? Because that's a bit creepy depending on the age and way too much like this guy in this manga. Oh, it's a secret love through e-mail isn't it?"

He snatched the manga from my hands and tossed it to the ground before shaking me,"That's not what I'm talking about!"

His brown eyes bore into my caramel ones with complete seriousness. I rose an eyesbrow,"So, there is a girl?"

Sighing heavily he spoke,"I was trying to say that I hear a lot of things when I'm cleaning up around the school cause no one thinks that a janitor understands what they're saying. Anyways, you need to think about what's going on with this boy before anything happens between you two. Eh, don't say anything just yet. I don't want you doing something that'll hurt you like it did back when we moved here. Now, my other reason for coming home, you were watching mom on those tapes- how are you feeling?"

I moved myself over on the bed to the wall and pulled up my legs, resting my chin on my knees,"His name is Shishido."

Jeram looked at me with confusion, obviously I had not answered his question,"Oh."

The silence in the room did not choke us but it kept us from speaking to one another. When the words did break the silence they sent my mind for a trip.

"Don't blame yourself."

My eyes widened at his statement and we met gazes. Before I could respond the doorbell rang and I hurried from the room to escape responding. Breathing out slowly I opened the door, shocked to see a tall boy with brown hair in front of me. He looked a bit flustered and took a moment before making eye contact with me.

"Hey, the match finished and I wondered if you wanted to go get something."

Not even beginning to question him I found my outlet and slid into my shoes,"Definitely, let's go."

Licking the fudge ice cream I looked at Shishido, who ate his own vanilla cone. We had not spoke many words to eachother the past few minutes but there was really nothing to say between us. Smiling a bit I asked him a question,"Did you guys win?"

"No, we didn't- Seigaku barely beat us."

I nodded and bit into my cone before speaking again,"You're not mad about that?"

"Eh, a bit, but I won my match so it's no fault of mine."

My smile got a bit bigger as I finished up my cone with the boy across from me. He rose an eyebrow at me,"What's with your smiling, Ryuuka?"

Not responding I finished my cone and forced him to walk with me down the street. A breeze blew by lightly and I smiled widely,"The day is nice, and it makes me think about how Summer vacation is only two weeks away."

"Yeah, vacation."

Stopping on the sidewalk I turned to face my friend,"You're having a sour attitude again."

"Wha-? I do not!"

"Yes you are. You're all sour because you'll never finish your summer assignment without help."

"Ryuuka, that's stupid! I could finish my work on my own!"

"Uh-huh, of course you can when you're not too busy throwing your body across a tennis court."

He glared down at me,"What does that have to do with summer work?"

I could not keep a straight face with the situation at hand. Laughing I held my stomach. Taken aback, Shishido crossed his arms,"What's so funny?"

Pulling myself together again I smiled up at him,"Thanks, Shishido."

I knew he had no idea what I was talking about, but I knew why I was thanking him and that was enough. He shifted his weight around,"It's nothing, nothing at all."

Smiling again at him I laughed lightly,"You're wrong, it wasn't nothing."

You helped a lot, even if neither of us know how much.

"I'm back! Sorry it's late, I was hanging out with Shishido."

Kyouji rushed over to me with long strides, barking the whole way. I smiled widely and ruffled his fur,"Hello there cutie, oh, who's a good boy. You are, you are."

Sofu looked over to me,"Glad to see you're back Kodomo, no one was home when we got back so I wonder where Jeram could be."

I stopped petting Kouji,"Jeram's not here?"

Chichi walked into the room shortly after but I rushed past him and up the stairs. Shoving my door open I looked around for anything, maybe my brother had just hid around or something. I found my phone on the nightstand and opened it, hurrying through the few missed calls from my father and a text or two from Kishi. Stopping I spotted a third text.

_'Check your manga'_

I rose an eye at the odd words my brother sent me before looking around my room. The manga he had thrown to the ground now lay neatly on the foot of my bed. Picking it up I opened to a page with a letter.

_Simone,_

_ Don't let those tapes get to you cause I know they are. Mom wouldn't want you to be wandering around blaming yourself for something you didn't cause. Don't start some crap about how you inadvertently caused it cause you didn't and you should know that by now, it has been over six years. I left Kyouji with you since it's a bit difficult to move in a person with him prancing all around her. Summer vacation is coming up so I'll make an effort to see you during that time, maybe I'll even let you meet my new roommate. _

_ Jeram_

_ p.s. Don't get involved with that guy_

Crinkling my nose at my brother's note, I stuck it back into the book and layed down, thinking again about everything. I knew well enough that my mind got carried away but Jeram had no idea how difficult it was for me to stop thinking it had been my fault. He was not the one who begged her to be at that meaningless graduation. He did not sit on the steps waiting for hours only to get dissapointment. He did not stand there with father and wonder why he cried so much. I guess I selfishly took the blame, but not because I wanted to, because I had to.

* * *

This chapter had been done when I posted the last one. I think I had wanted to add onto it and that is why I never posted it, but who knows now. The manga mentioned is titled Dengeki Daisy and is actually one of the better manga I have read so go read it. . . Now.

~ [Whoops.] Tai


	29. I Felt Pain

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 29: I Felt Pain

* * *

"Oi, Shishido!"

The boy turned around, annoyed that he was interrupted from whatever he had been doing. I smiled at him and came to a stop,"What time does your club finish up today?"

"Whenever Atobe tells us to go home, don't you have a committee meeting today- you're in two of them."

I nodded,"Yeah, but they're not meeting today because we finished our agenda yesterday. I was asked to help out with the Kendo club alongside Mimori so I wanted to see what time you were finishing up so we could walk home together."

I had been making it a routine to walk home with him everyday the past week and a half. Thinking now it probably seemed out of my character but I covered it up with an excuse about Kyouji since I did not want to tell him what I really thought each time I asked him. I decided I would ask him for help on my summer project, though I am perfectly capable of handling it all by myself. Knowing Shishido he would take it as an insult to his intelligence.

He rose an eyebrow at me. My chest tightened for a moment and I adjusted my breathing until the pain went away.

"You said you would help out with the Kendo club? Really?"

I had not expected that response. If anything I expected him to sigh and grumble at me about how I annoyed him with my constant bothering him. I smirked and nodded. I opened my mouth to respond, but a certain egotist cut me off.

"Shishido! You're not practicing!"

* * *

"Go count the equipment."

The bright blonde girl did not even spare me a glance from her clipboard. I shrugged and turned, there is no use in being mad about whatever Mimori does. Following her demand I stood over the equipment not in use. Multiple shinai remained untouched in the special case so I overlooked them to count the bokken not in use. Five took up space on the wall white a few men, tare, and kote lay around unorganized. I huffed at the mess and moved them around, counting as I went. After fixing the mess I looked at the practicing club members.

"Wait a minute..."

Looking back down at the equipment I noticed that the four men for the four sets were missing. I glanced around for the head gear but had no luck. Anxiety flooded over me, Mimori would be unhappy about this. I stood still and tried to act busy to prolong telling the manager about this.

"You got any water Sa- oh."

An older boy came into my view from the right. His rough black hair stuck to some of his forehead thanks to sweat. He wore all of the equipment for the club, reminging me again that I could not find the men. His smile made me feel like I should start a conversation with him.

"Are you done practicing?"

White teeth took over his face as his smile widened,"Yeah, I'm done practicing my kata today."

I nodded politely,"How long have you been practicing kendo?"

He removed his safety equipment slowly, placing each piece in its respective area. "About six years now." He continued smiling and leaned towards me. I brushed off his actions. "S-"

"Ebihara were you just working with Sasamori on her technique practice?" Mimori's dull voice made the smiling boy turn to her. I took the opening and hurried away to look for the missing men.

My search came up empty so I waited by Mimori's items while she walkd around speaking to each member. I swung my feet a bit while I waited. The wooden floors were beautifully shining in the sun. Hyotei always had the best, especially with sports. Many schools did not have a traditional room for their kendo clubs but Hyotei did. The gym is humongous and the grounds have many different sport areas.

The tennis courts, for example, had a big maintenance every year and usually the bleachers were replaced and the courts shined for the new year- maybe even for the new semester. The equipment they recieve is even better, each student involved in the tennis club gets their own personal racket to use if they do not own one- which they probably do but still- and that means they even get to pick out the one they want. Shishido talked about his racket once at lunch, a YONEX I think. . . Not sure, I do know that the brand matches his shoes though.

"Ryuuka, I need the count."

Ready to meet my fate I explained how many I had of each item. I ignored that the men were missing for each set and when she said nothing about it I guessed that she knew where they were since I know she could love to demand where they were. She scribbled the information down before waving a pale hand at me,"That boy is waiting for you, he has been for 20 minutes. Thank you for your help, have those forms down before the next Cultural Committee meeting after vacation."

Mimori never let me forget abo- did she say someone had been waiting for me? Slipping back into my shoes I slid open the door fully and spotted Shishido leaning against the building, eyes closed. I felt my stomach collapse in on itself.

"Waiting out here Shishido?"

He opened his eyes cooly and responded like his usual annoyed self,"You took forever, I was just thinking about leaving."

I smiled to myself, no he was not. If he had thought about leaving it would have been earlier rather than after twenty minutes of waiting. The last week of school before the summer vacation is ending in two days. I let my breath out as we walked. I figure now would be a good time as any to ask. I opened my mouth and glanced to him, ready to speak. Nothing came out. When I noticed his eyes glance over to me I shut my mouth quickly. How come I could not just ask him?

I felt his wrist bump mine. My throat twitched. I watched him yank his hand from his right side. My left fingers mindlessly crumpled my skirts edges. Stupid hands. We waited for the crossing to tell us we could cross. Neither of us spoke and unlike the other days our contact changed the atmosphere around us. I worried if now instead of us ignoring one another because of our distaste with eachother all of the time we spent together would be filled with silence that could not be filled comfortablty. I rubbed the edge of my skirt again with my thumb. My nerves jumped around inside of me.

Shishido's house came first and he turned silently. I waited for him to leave behind the gate but he just stood there. I stared at the stone wall in front of his home to avoid eye contact.

"Well aren't you coming?"

"Huh?"

His gray eyes showed annoyance but also laughed at me,"Up to the door. I need to walk Kyou."

I followed him to the door and waited as he put his things inside and ran after his dog to get him leashed. I really did not know what to say when he came back. I felt different about this. He glanced over to me but looked away a second later, a small frown taking over his face.

Kyou barked happily. He pranced in front of us. Shishido walked on my right this time and I on his left. Our arms bumped and I felt my throught close again. My skin tingled but this time Shishido did not yank his body away. Kyou stopped and sniffed around. He than turned and yanked his owner around. I laughed as Shishido regained his composure. His glare at the dog ceased and he began to laugh with me. We exchanged no words for the rest of the time we were together. We only did one thing in the silence I decided I would find comfort in. We walked.

* * *

YES! NEW CHAPTER!

I came home from work and read through the notes I had made and decided that I would update. It turned out better than I thought. Kind of angsty and the moment I really want to happen can't yet until a bit later, after the national matches I think to make it easier (still not sure where to stick it though).

The kendo guy may or may not be important later on, I have no idea yet. I might just shove him into Kishi's story instead because he does not fit in this one well enough. (All of the equipment mentioned is also difficult to describe so I apologize for just using names. I truthfully had no desire to describe it all)

Also, if anyone has any helpful comments like ideas for events that could transpire or something of the such I would love input. Sometimes I just need something to move the chapter to the next point an I draw a blank.

~ [Grateful] Tai.


	30. I Am Your Father

**The Perfect Girl**

Chapter 30: I am Your Father

* * *

"Oh darkness, embrace me for I deserve my end! I have wronged the universe in all of my actions, spare me nothing!"

Penny-sensei shouted loudly from the front of the classroom some of the final lines from a play she had been reading with a group. Her dramatic death on the desk made me smile at her, she really made me love this class. This last Saturday is nearly over. Vacation would come and go in the blink of an eye.

My partner sat across from me reading over a paper in frustration. He must have been reading the second section of our main summer project. Pushing my eyebrows together I looked over him. I had yet to ask him to help me with my project. Something kept me from asking him. I heard the tone signify the end of classes for the day. He stood up after a moment to get his items.

"Wait, Shishido." I jumped up, my chair screeching against the floor. He stopped and looked at me. I felt my breathing turn ragged, my mind went blank. Than the words finally escaped,"Will you help me with my project over the break?"

An eternity passed before he responded to me. He smirked smugly,"Can't handle your own work Ryuuka?"

I felt the shot to my pride and narrowed my caramel eyes,"Oh can it Shishido!" Pulling my back up roughly I hurried out of the room.

Footsteps hurried after me,"Come on Ryuuka, take a joke!"

I ignored him and tried to walk quicker. His hand grabbed my shoulder to turn me around. My breath hitched and for a moment I felt like I was in a movie, than I fell into a door, than the door opened. Hitting the ground made me very unhappy.

"Are you alright?"

Shishido leaned over me and from my blurred vision I could see him genuinely hoping I had not been seriously injured. I closed my eyes and blew air out my nose,"Nice going **idiot**."

He helped me to stand and forced me to walk closer to him so I would not fall. As much as I wanted to tell him to back off I did not want to. I ignored the fact we were walking so close and instead payed attention to my shoulder. A constant dull pain seared through the joint. Though not as bad as when I usually hurt it still discomforted me.

"We can work on the project this week. Atobe is leaving for a week for Europe or something so tennis is suspended until the second week."

"I thought Atobe was serious about tennis, I guess Europe is more enticing."

Shishido scoffed at me,"We're almost to your house. You need to lay down when you get inside, you look exhausted."

Not the most words we had ever exchanged, but they made me a bit mad at him. It had been his fault for me falling and I felt fine. I nodded but knew I would ignore his suggestion and just take a pain pill at home before doing whatever I want. "Got it Shishi, now let me walk on my own."

Scoffing again he made no move to let me run away from him. Instead he grabbed my upper arm and brought me to my door. Sofu greeted us with a smile,"Ah, how gentlemanly of you."

I gaped at him and yanked my arm away, wincing slightly at the force I used,"I'll be over tomorrow to work **idiot** so be up or I'll storm into your room again."

* * *

"Going out now!"

"Really? I thought we were going to be able to spend some family time together." My father looked up from his breakfast tiredly. It looked like he would fall into his food at any moment.

I smiled at him,"Not today Chichi, I'm going to Shishido's so we can work on our summer project."

"Have fun than."

Sofu agreed with his son's statement but I could tell that he had a different meaning behind it. I grimaced at the old man before fixing my shoes. The heat wave smacked into me the moment I left the house. I could feel the sweat already lining my forehead. Hurrying to Shishido's I went to knock on the door when it opened. Kyou ran out quickly under me with his leash pulling someone behind him. The certain owner ran into me full force. With a shriek I gripped his shirt and pulled him down with me into the bushes beside the house.

"This is the second time you've made me fall. Don't let there be a third **idiot**."

Shishido picked himself up from the ground next to me,"Ryuuka?"

"No, I'm the mail woman. Yes, it's me."

He helped me up from the bushes before he grabbed Kyou's leash. I sighed and removed some of the small leaves in my hair and on my clothing,"I'll just go ahead inside with my stuff. Don't take too long."

Not waiting for his answer I walked into his home and greeted his family.

"Ohayo Jiro-san, Satu-san, Tanaka-san, Elrin-san. I am here to work on a project with Ryou."

Placing my shoes in the correct place I took the extra set of house shoes by the door. The family nodded and once again Satu, the leader of the family it seemed, motioned for me to go upstairs if I wanted. I proceeded up the steps to the same room I had been in once before for a project. The room had some clothes on the floor but I stepped over them and flopped onto the made bed. Actually the sheets were very comfortable. I looked over some items on his desk and spotted something inside.

Taking out the cases I smiled widely,"No way."

I read the back of the box excitedly, this had been the best of finds. Shishido had been quick with Kyou's walk and hurried into his room, kicking clothes out of his way. "What are you looking at Ryuuka?"

I continued to smile, this time directing it at him,"You have all of the Star Wars movies! This is so cool, I didn't think you liked anything like this."

He sat on the far end of his bed from me and waited for me to finish up my fascination with the movies. Once I set them down I returned my attention to the main task we had to complete,"Okay. So our project is from Penny-sensei. It deals with the work of a Japanese poet from this list and our interpretations and connections with similar themes in the English poetry we've learned about."

I caught Shishido's frown from the corner of my eye. "You not like poetry?"

"Embarrassing poetry. Did you not read the next page of the assignment. We have to make our own stupid thing."

I picked up the second sheet to read what he meant,"Create your own works with the themes you have found and studied. Connect these poems with your own personality. . . Blah blah blah. Hm, doesn't seem too bad."

It did not seem that I would be able to convince Shishido of that though. So I looked to the first sheet again and went down the list of Japanese poets. The Edo Period poet Yosa Buson stuck out to me so I marked a star by his name. "Who are you gonna choose?"

He shrugged. I suggested he choose someone with a cool name since they usually had interesting stuff. He took my suggestion and chose Ono no Komachi, the waka poet. I took a moment to think about what she wrote and nothing came to mind. The computer avaiable in the study came to my mind and I dragged Shishido there.

"Let's see. Ah, found her. Beautiful woman, thirty-sis poet immortals, waka are about anxiety, solitude, or passionate love. Specialized in erotic love themes. . ."

Silence enveloped the room before I broke it with loud laughter. Turning to Shishido while still laughing I nodded my head at him,"You are definitely committing haha."

Unhappily he closed out of the window and left the room, clearly not okay with this situation. Hurrying after him I gave him good reasons to keep her as his poet,"She's one of the only female poets named by people in her time and she was very popular. You can avoid the more risque ones if you have to."

* * *

Three hours later we sat in the main room by ourselves. Elrin had left for a school trip and everyone else had taken a trip to the grocery store. I did not mind them being gone but since they had left Shishido and I stopped working. Instead we were currently watching the end of Return of the Jedi. Luke had just unmasked his father. I glanced from the tv to Shishido. He leaned towards the tv in anticiaption for the ending. While he continued to watch the movie I watched him. We had been half a foot from eachother the entire moving and whenever I shifted we bumped body parts. Neither of us moved away even though we constantly bumped into eachother. I liked it.

The music played loudly from the screen and I jumped slightly. Shishido glanced over so I averted my eyes to the screen.

"_Bark! Bark!_"

I found myself collapsed on the floor for the third time in two days. I turned my head and winced before opening my eyes,"Third time Shishido, I told y-"

Above me Shishido caught himself on the table and ground next to my waist. This seemed like deja vu from when Salmon caused a run in between us. Except this time I had been thinking about this, about our friendship and how we bumped together. This time it was different.

"_Bark! Bark!_"

A weight smashed into me, leaving me winded. Kyou licked my face wildly as I was unable to stop him with Shishido blocking my arms. The dog eventually stopped and sat on his owners back. Absorbing everything that had happened I realized what sort of position I was in now. My face heated up wildly,"Shishi-baka, g-get off!"

"Get Kyou off than! I can't maneuver from under the table with him on me!"

"Don't make up excuses!"

His face came into my vision on my left side,"It is not an excuse!"

The gate outside screeched open and Kyou decided to leap over to greet the person who would soon enter through the door. I lifted my palms into Shishido's torso to move him,"Get up, get up."

He quickly got off of me and I jumped up. Before I really gained back my balance a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me upstairs. When we stopped I clenches my teeth,"Ah, that hurt."

Shishido looked at me confusedly. I guess he ran up here because his father would not want his son to be ignoring his school work for a movie but thanks to his quick actions my shoulder had popped loudly. "Your shoulder. . . Is there anything wrong with it?"

By his tone I could tell he probably knew something had to be wrong with my shoulder from my gripping it during school and the time he saw my shoulder without my jacket on. I refused to tell him anything though and shook my head,"It's just bruised from that fall I took yesterday."

If he did not believe me he did not make any actions that said so. Than again he had been difficult to read sometimes. I collapsed onto his bed and took up all of the room,"We might as well actually work on that project."

Shoving my legs away Shishido sat himself down,"Or we could put it off."

I pushed myself up onto my elbows,"So we procrastinate? I like the idea of that."

* * *

The following Tuesday Shishido and I accompanied Gakuto and Oshitari to the beach. I had tried to invite Kishi but she had been very quick to state she had plans. I gladly wore my favorite blue bikini top but I wore khaki shorts over my bottoms, I really did not like showing off that much leg. . . Especially if I have to be around leg fetish man. Shishido on the other hand had his sunglasses and red swim trunks. They were not the most flattering bottoms but not a lot of his clothing differed in color.

We walked until Oshitari picked us up halfway. The air conditioning dried most of the sweat that had begun to appear on my body from the trek. Gakuto met us at the beach with an area already set up. I layed out my towel but did not have a moment to lay on it because Gakuto sucked me into a one on one game of volleyball. The sport, while I was not the best at it, was enjoyable. I easily kicked Gakuto into next week before I spotted a familiar face. Tossing the volleyball back into the sand I ran towards him,"Yuuta!"

Gripping his arm I dragged him over to our spot on the beach. I noticed Shishido give him a once over, as if he knew him. He looked a bit unhappy about seeing him.

"Oshitari, Ryuuka's cheating."

The blue haired partner stood up and joined his friend,"I'll play than, it should be fun." With those words he took off his shirt in a dramatic fashion. I frowned at him.

Shishido looked up from the sand,"I'll keep score."

I smirked at him,"Works for me."

Yuuta finally said what he had been trying to say since I dragged him over here,"I'm here with a friend."

I laughed,"Well they can get you back when I'm done with you. Now, Gakuto, you're goin' down!"

He stuck his tongue out at me childishly. Yuuta served the ball and proved to be a good volleyball player. Oshitari bumped the ball to Gakuto who hit it over the net. Running up Yuuta smacked it up, allowing me to smash it down on their side. Sand flew into the air and I grabbed Yuuta's wrist, jumping in a circle happily,"We won, we won, Gakuto's a loser, Gakuto's a loser."

The loser complained loudly so I replied by sticking my tongue out at him like he had to me. He ceased complaining. Looking back around I locked eyes with Shishido, who continued to sit in the sand. I let go of Yuuta's wrists and yanked my friend up off the ground,"Stop being such a twig in the sand."

He smiled and shoved me away. I took this as a challenge. "Don't start with me Shishido!"

Tackling him into the sand took no effort and I managed to pin him multiple times before a bucket of cold water stopped me. The water dripped into my eyes. The culprit laughed,"I had to get your attention, Mizuki finally found me."

"Well tell Mizuki that he needs to be more observant. I'll see you around than Yuuta!" He walked off to a boy with shiny black hair, I think I had met him before at the tennis courts. Maybe anyways.

A tackle from behind distracted me,"Waugh! Shishido!"

Cheap shot tennis-freak.

* * *

Okay, there will be more of this beach stuff in the next chapter or two, not sure about what yet. I had wanted to do a beach theme but this did not pan out the way I had hoped. I apologize for all the waiting. I will do my best now to not have such long "breaks."

I have uploaded the first chapter to the Kishi Choutarou story and it will not be updated very often mainly because even though I have more written for it the events in it will conflict and spoil some of this story, ehe. So I will update when the events have happened in this chapter or are close to happening.

~ [asdfghjkl;] Tai


End file.
